Like a surging wave, the following verses rolled over my heart, one after the other. When done, I stood with a new and profound reflection. The verses, each by themselves, were familiar to me, as well as the truths. Somehow, though, receiving them all in the same moment brought to my attention a new lesson. Listen.
“Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
“Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
“Beware lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.”
“He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”
As I pondered the power of these words, they were like seed planted into my heart. I am up against some issues that by the statistics and by the way things look, are unlikely to end favorably. I was forced into reviewing them in light of the verses that had just been brought to mind, and I was forced into deciding whether I would take God at His Word for these impossibilities, or to continue worrying and toiling to make things work out. The call to believe God completely was strong, and I inwardly fell to my knees to affirm my trust in Him who I know to be trustworthy.
A few weeks later, opening my Bible to find the passage the pastor had announced for his text, God directed me instead to words on the page where my Bible fell open. Looking back, I realize that it was no coincidence. That day, all I could think of as I read the account before me was how much my Heavenly Father must love me to direct me to such a perfect answer to my weighty problems. It was the story of King Ahaz. Surely I had read about him before since I had done the Bible-in-a-year thing many times and had even done a rather extensive study on the Kings with the children when they were young.
But I did not remember this story. I read it in near unbelief. The message was fine tuned to my current heartaches and prayer requests. Surely it is possible to stretch the real meaning of a passage and to read into it, but I firmly believe that the more you read about how God worked in the Old Testament, the more you know He will act today. He has not changed.
Here is the passage:
The enemy was coming against
Then the LORD speaks to Isaiah and gives him a message for King Ahaz that goes like this:
“Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart…. because of the enemy that is plotting your ruin…. This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
It will not take place, it will not happen”
Then He says something so amazing:
“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”
The first message to me was, “Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart….” Those words were exactly what I needed to hear. It was the foundation I needed. I read further. The enemy of God was determined to invade
And then to finish the mighty lesson in my heart, the words flashed like a neon sign before me, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”
Some would say that it is not right to take literally a story in the Old Testament; but I say, I am reminded in Romans that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope!”
Let me tell you, what I came away with after my five minute departure from the sermon was HOPE! I believe with all my heart that in the same way that God told King Ahaz that “it will not take place, it will not happen,” when you hear the Word of God, there is a choice to be made. You can do what many advise: doubt. Or you can do what the world sees as ridiculous: believe what you know to be true about Almighty God and stand firm in your faith.
How important it is for us to study the nature of God! It is so much easier to step out in faith when you know Him well.
(The rest of the story…God acted in my 21st-century crisis in exactly the same way as He did in the days of King Ahaz. His power unleashed upon my impossible circumstances brought complete victory!)
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