March 8 I Wednesday

Deuteronomy 4-6

Mark 11:1-18

“Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You.”     —Psalm 9:10

If we are going to put our faith in God, we have to know certain things about Him that give us confidence. At the core, we must believe that God exists. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” No matter what our experience tells us God is like, fundamentally, we must at least believe that He exists.

       True faith is not believing in God for things, but simply believing in God Himself. There are some people who believe God for______and they fill in the blank with what they would like to believe about God. For example, some have placed their faith for a person’s healing but that person dies, or faith for a couple’s reconciliation in marriage but they end up divorcing or faith for financial success but it does not happen. When we put our faith in things that do not end the way we expect, we start to conclude that Christianity is just a myth or a fantasy. But true faith is not in what God may or may not do, it purely believes in who God is.

       Some of us may feel God’s promise to us has not come to pass, things we feel He whispered in the quiet moments but we have not seen their fulfillment. We must, however, remember that true faith is not based on our circumstances but upon God Himself.

       God rewards those who earnestly seek Him, where we turn from whatever situation is difficult in our life to God. However, we must understand that God does not reward those who only pray when they are in need, putting their faith in Him for a certain outcome. We must have true faith in God Himself and actively pursue a genuine relationship with Him. Even as we face every obstacle and disaster, we earnestly seek Him as the God of our life.

       I had a friend in England who told me, “I sought to follow God’s leading, but most things I have been involved in have seemed to end in failure.” He was discouraged even though he was a good husband and a great dad to his two kids. What he needed to reassess was his definition of success in life; that what was most important was that he lived by faith in God even in the midst of doubt around what was happening. True faith is a trust in God—those who seek Him are promised to find Him.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I believe in You and earnestly seek You. May my faith in You not waiver based on my circumstances. You are the Lord of my life. Thank You, Lord.