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(Hebrews 10:38)
Faith is one of those subjects continually debated among believers, theologians and religious folks. Sometimes people are not sure exactly what faith is, how much of it is enough or how one is supposed to effectively employ it. But we can see unequivocally in our verse today from Hebrews that it is something, regardless of what we think or have been taught, God absolutely requires of us.
We don't know for certain who the writer of Hebrews really was, though there is considerable evidence for Pauline authorship. But whoever it was understood faith and gave us a very detailed outline of its use, as well as its power and the results to be expected when wielding it.
You can see from my choice of words so far that I believe faith to be an action, not just a state of mind. While some describe their religion as their faith ("I am of the Catholic faith, Lutheran faith, etc.") this really is not faith in the New Testament sense of the word. It is obviously possible to have been raised and in fact be active in an organized religion without having an active faith such as we see described in Hebrews.
As Chapter 11 opens, we see the pure definition of faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But while this is a beautiful, concise and exact explanation of what faith is, it tells us little about how to act in (or on our) faith. So the writer proceeds to give us some excellent examples.
Abel: Offered an excellent, pure sacrifice, from his heart, thus establishing his righteousness. He gave the very best of what he had to God. This is an act of faith, not a mental acquiescence to it.
Enoch: Was allowed to bypass death entirely because his faith was so pleasing to God. Enoch lived in a constant state of active faith. He walked with God everyday. Still does.
Noah: Built a 450 foot long boat (because God told him to) to save mankind from something else he had never seen before: rain and a flood. This was a supreme act of faith, performed in the open for all to see (and scoff at). God is not a respecter of age in the area of faith, either, for Noah was about 600 years old when he became an apprentice shipbuilder and zoo curator.
Abraham: Went where he was told by God to go. Lived where he was supposed to live. Offered his only son as a sacrifice, believing all the while that God would raise him back up. Very active faith.
Sarah: Believed God's impossible promise and received the strength at age 90 to have a son with her 100 year old husband. Extremely active faith.
Isaac and Jacob: Blessed their sons. Can't see that as an act of faith? It is if you believe it is. God saw it as faith and recorded it as such. Don't argue.
Joseph: Prophesied on his deathbed. He believed it. It was an act of faith. All he said came to pass.
Moses: Was the object of an act of faith as a baby when his parents hid him from the king, disobeying his direct order. They knew he had an important future to fulfill. Moses continued in his parents' active faith by refusing royal position and wealth in order to obey God and save his people (again and again and again).
Joshua: Demolition by faith.
Rahab: Hooker by trade, double-agent by faith. Saved her life and placed her in the lineage of Jesus Christ to boot.
There are many more examples: Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel and the prophets who through use of their active faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again.
Still more employed their faith, we are told, to endure everything from torture to death to exile.
This is what faith is about: doing. Not just believing, but acting on that belief, even when all appears hopeless and impossible. Even when you can't see how it can work. Even when all around you think you're crazy. But just remember Noah; they laughed at him. They thought he was just a crazy old coot. Until they were treading water.
The Bottom Line
(or get to the point, Kona!)
(Isaiah 9:6)
Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Isaiah the prophet penned these Holy Spirit-inspired words that we sing and recite each year at this time. We sing it as fact and history now, but at the time it was written it was a promise yet to be realized. With our perspective we have no problem understanding who and what these verse are about, yet I wonder how many in Isaiah's day really grasped the significance of what they were reading. Could they see the Christ we know?
Certainly the scholars saw Messiah in these lines. They knew He was coming. But I doubt they fully understood the way He would come: His humble birth, His servant-like ministry, His criminal's death or His world-shaking resurrection. I believe in these verses they saw a omnipotent, benign ruler, a conqueror who would bring lasting peace, and an undefeatable warrior-king whose realm would be all encompassing and whose reign would be eternal. That is, of course, what we see, yet we have the advantage of filtering it through the known life of Jesus. They had a much more worldly view of what these titles would mean.
In this perfectly beautiful description of Christ we are immediately presented with something of a paradox. A child is born to us while at the same time a Son is given to us. This is the enigma of the Incarnation, God becoming man. It is also a confirmation of the Trinity, the Son already existing before the Child is even born.
We see that the "government" will rest on His shoulders, a phrase that must have confused early scholars and certainly disappointed those of Jesus' day who were expecting an all-out coup d'etat. Actually, this tells us that the right to rule, authority over all things, will be draped like a mantle on Him. A king, yes, a ruler definitely, but of a heavenly kingdom.
Wonderful, Counselor again must have been confusing to the scribe also as it denotes a political guide and leader in one sense and yet we know that this is not what Jesus came to earth to be. A Guide and a Counselor He is, but as the infallible Word of God He leads us in the Truth and His inexhaustible wisdom is the wisdom that comes from the Father and is decidedly apolitical.
As the Mighty God we see Him unambiguously defined as God incarnate, a stumbling block surely to those who would deny the deity of Christ. Again we see the Trinity expressed here because we know He is given to us by someone else. In the Hebrew, the term "mighty" (gibbor) also carries these connotations: warrior, champion, strongman and valiant man; in other words, a heroic warrior. Again, early scholars and those expecting the Messiah were probably disappointed that their Savior was not a man of arms. Yet we know Him as a warrior who conquered more than Alexander, more than Caesar or Napoleon: He conquered Death. He destroyed Sin. He beat the Grave.
Here we once again have something of a paradox seemingly: Christ is called the Everlasting Father. Yet we know Jesus is the Son. However this term refers to Jesus' fatherly care, ministry and reign, not His position in the Trinity. The Father is still The Father as Jesus continually acknowledged.
Christ's fourth title is Prince of Peace. This is a foretaste of the salvation He would bring: the peace, the happiness. the healing, the prosperity and the end of strife. It also foretells the reconciliation between God and Man, the whole reason for the coming of the Child in the first place which was echoed in Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men! by the heavenly host who announced the glorious birth to the amazed (and I assume forever changed) shepherds. Most likely this title was again not applied as the scholars envisioned it would be: a cessation from war and victory over their earthly enemies.
Fortunately for us we have the benefit of the
complete Scripture and the New Covenant to understand who Jesus truly is. We can
read these lines that may have been a puzzle even to their inspired writer and
realize who and what they allude to. But at this time of year, and throughout
every season, good and bad, bountiful and needful, sick and well, happy and sad,
we should remember that we have been given a gift that cannot be taken away from
us; a gift far more precious than any ever given or that ever will be given
again. We have Jesus, He's ours, and He's everything. Merry Christmas.
The Bottom Line
(or get to the point, Kona!)
(John 20:29)
On the day of the Resurrection, after first appearing to Mary Magdalene, Jesus surprised His frightened disciples (who had with good reason gone into hiding for fear of the Jews arresting and killing them as well) by walking through a solid wall and standing in their midst. It was at this time that He commissioned them to continue His work. Unfortunately for Thomas the Twin, he had apparently something else to do at that time and missed the whole thing.
Of course the other disciples excitedly told Tom all about this afterward, but he just wasn't ready to buy it. He stated that unless he saw Jesus for himself, saw and touched His nail and spear wounds with his own fingers, he would never believe it. Fortunately, eight days later, he had his chance, the disciples once again being locked up in some safe place, with Thomas among them, as Jesus appeared. The others had of course seen this amazing entry and materialization through solid walls and closed doors before and probably tried to act as if it were not shocking, but Thomas must have been nonplussed. "Peace to you!", said Jesus cheerfully.
Then without further ado, the Lord walked up to doubting Thomas and said, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing."
"My Lord and My God!", affirmed Tom, whose doubts had by now been blown to smithereens. To which Jesus calmly, and I think probably with some sadness, countered, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed."
Which certainly would be us, you and me, and all believers from that time on. And that really is the point of it all, according to John. In the next verses, John 20:30-31, he explains that Jesus did a lot of other amazing things that are not recorded, but the ones that are were written so "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."
We, unlike Thomas, aren't likely to have the opportunity he had of confirming the resurrection and the divinity of Christ by physical means. We are required to accept Christ on faith, but we have these powerful writings of eyewitnesses to help us, encourage us and convince us of this ultimate of all truths.
There are many other very interesting observations made in this last section of John's gospel. One that always strikes me is the fact that Jesus obviously knew that Thomas had doubted His resurrection and that He was the Son of God. His appearance that night was for Thomas' sake, and of course, eventually, ours. He knew every word Thomas had spoken, and met his doubts and unbelief head on. Only God is omniscient.
Then there is the mysterious and spectacularly frustrating reference John makes to the other signs Jesus did. What were they and why were they not recorded? Even later, in the very last verse of this book, John teases us yet again when he states, "And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."
I would really like to know what those things were. What did we miss? The imagination can go wild with this one. And obviously Jesus had a very busy three years, according to John. Apparently we have only seen the smallest fraction of the earthly ministry of Jesus, one that must have been an almost non-stop performance of the miraculous and the extraordinary. Possibly the deeds we know of aren't even the most impressive. We can only guess. Did He fly? Walk in the air? Raise multiple dead at once? Levitate a multitude? Create something never seen before? Move an actual mountain? The possibilities are as limitless as He is. John may be chuckling about this right now, but it's maddening to me.
But there is a reason for this, I suspect, and it goes back to what the Lord told Thomas about believing without seeing. I think He felt we had all the information necessary and that more would be akin to sticking our fingers in His nail holes. He wanted us to believe as an act of informed faith, but not because we had literally been buried under mountains of proof.
Regardless, that's our lot. We have a choice; believe or don't. But remember what Jesus said to Thomas: Blessed are those who have not seen, and have yet believed. That's us. We're blessed. Which, after all, is immeasurably better than just knowing all the details.
The Bottom Line
(or get to the point, Kona!)
(Mark 8:24)
I have to thank my friend on Kaua'i, Terry Moeller, for suggesting today's article. The quoted section I will be using can be found at http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/4146.asp on the Answers in Genesis site and comes from an article by Russell Grigg.
One day as Jesus arrived in Bethsaida, a blind man was brought to Him. Jesus reaction to this and His method in healing the blind man was different than any He used elsewhere. Mark tells us that Jesus led the man out of town, spit on his eyes and then laid His hands on him. He then asked the man what he was seeing. "I see men like trees, walking," he replied. Then Jesus again laid His hands on the man's eyes and at this point he saw everything clearly, proving again that He is the spitting image of God (I know, that was terrible. Consider me chastised mightily).
This account is very interesting when one examines it closely, and it poses a question. Why did Jesus heal this man in two steps, instead of instantaneously? We certainly know He could have done so. At this point let me step aside and allow Russell Grigg to address this. The section is slightly longer than my normal article, but I found this so interesting I wanted to include it almost in its entirety. Grigg writes:
"At Creation, God did not need millions of years -- the greater the power, the less the need for time. He could have created everything in an instant, but chose to take six days for a reason (Exodus 20:8-11). Likewise, Jesus could have healed this man in one step, as He did all the other blind people He healed, but on this occasion He chose to take longer. The two steps were only a few moments apart, not months, so there was no time for 'natural healing' to occur, and the details given show that it was not a case of psychosomatic or 'hysterical' blindness being relieved (see below).
The fact that Jesus took two stages does not mean that He was
limited to some non-supernatural means to do His creative miracle. Perhaps it was so that
we would see a proof of inspiration through the medical details given by the human writer,
Mark, but of which he could not possibly have known the significance -- details which were
similar to those experienced by the people mentioned below, who had regained their sight
after many years of blindness.
Virgil
Virgil was a 50-year-old man, blind from childhood, whose sight was restored in 1991 after
a cataract was removed and a new lens implanted in one eye. His story is told by Oliver
Sacks, Professor of Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, in his
book An Anthropologist on Mars. When the bandages were removed, Virgil could see, but he
had no idea what he was seeing. Light, movement and colour were all mixed up and
meaningless; all were just a blur. His brain could make no sense of the images that his
optic nerve was transmitting. Although he now had eyesight, he was still mentally blind --
a condition of perceptual incapacity known medically as agnosia.
Virgil could read the third line on a standard Snellan eye chart, equivalent to a visual
acuity of about 20/100 (with a best of 20/80). However, he could not distinguish words,
even though he could read Braille fluently, as well as raised or inscribed letters; he
could easily read the inscribed letters on tombstones by touch. A cat was particularly
puzzling, as he could see parts clearly -- a paw, the nose, the tail -- but the cat as a
whole was only a blur, as were human faces. At the zoo, Virgil found it difficult to
identify animals, and did so either by their motion or by a single feature, e.g. a
kangaroo because it hopped, a giraffe because of its height, a zebra because of its
stripes, and lions
because of their roar. A few days after his operation, Virgil said that 'trees didn't look
like anything on earth', but a month later he finally put a tree together and realized
that the trunk and leaves formed a complete unit.
Clinical aspects
People who have formerly been used to a world they accessed only by touch, hearing, taste,
and smell tend to be baffled by 'appearance' which, being optical, has no correlation in
the other senses. People who have been totally blind from birth (congenital blindness) or
early childhood have lived in a world of time alone, not time and space. Thus the step at
the end of a porch is something which occurs for a blind person a short time after he
leaves the doorway, rather than something he is aware of in space. Sacks quotes the
autobiography (Touching the Rock) of John Hull, a blind man, who says that, for the blind,
people are there only when they speak; they come and they go
out of nothing.
Sighted babies learn to master all this as time goes by, an
achievement, it should be noted, which is beyond the capacity of even our largest
super-computers. People who become blind later in life have built up a 'visual memory' of
the way things look and how they fit together in space. However, for the newly sighted, it
is a huge learning task involving a radical change in both neurological and psychological
functioning, a change in 'the perceptual habits and strategies of a lifetime' -- in short,
in identity.
From such case histories, it appears that when sight is suddenly restored, there is the
need for the
development of some new pathways in the visual cortex of the brain. Thus the story of the
Bethsaida blind man who saw 'people as trees walking' is not a poetic account; it is a
clinical
description. Like Virgil, this blind man could see, but he had the additional complication
of agnosia
-- he could not make sense of what he was seeing. Jesus, having given his eyes sight, then
heals his
agnosia -- in one miraculous instant his brain was taught what the rest of us have learned
from
childhood.
So why did Jesus do it this way for this man, as He didn't have to, and apparently did not
do so for
any of the other blind people He healed?
We don't know for sure, but perhaps it is because, in healing the Bethsaida man in these
two stages, He has given a built-in stamp of authority to the authenticity of the account,
one that is discernible only to modern-day readers. There is no way that an apocryphal or
fabricated tale could have had these details: surgical correction of congenital blindness
was not being done then, so the author could not have known about the problem of agnosia
in the newly sighted.
It is thus irrefutable evidence that a miracle did occur at Bethsaida. This miracle of healing would have involved restoring or creating eye structures, as well as creating new nerve pathways and connections in the brain. It was thus of the same order of miracle-working power as the making of Adam from the dust of the earth or Eve from Adam's rib, in a similarly short time (Genesis 2:7;21-22)."
You know we really should have such unshakeable faith in our God that nothing ever seems impossible to us. This wonderful explanation Russell Grigg gives us of this remarkable event shows not just the power, inventiveness and foresight of God, but His inexpressible love for us all; a love that touched and opened the eyes of one nameless blind man 2,000 years ago, empowered to leap across time, await scientific progress, and open ours, too.
The Bottom Line
(or get to the point, Kona!)
(II Corinthians 5:7)
I have written on this short but profound verse before; can't remember when, but I know I did. You try searching four years of back issues. I give up.
Still, one can't read or think about or apply these eight words too often. They are the very core, the very essence of Christianity. This is the precept that makes possible the promises of God, gives us the power to live a Christian life, and distinguishes us from the merely religious.
This last point becomes painfully obvious in many denominational settings, where really using one's faith, believing it is more real than apparent reality, standing on it regardless of what appears to be true in a physical sense, is seen as rather quaint, if not foolish. Yet we apply this faith vs. sight philosophy constantly in all other areas of our lives. We usually just have a problem with it when it comes to trusting God.
For example, we get married. We don't enter into to this supposedly binding contract assuming it must fail (though we have started to create more legal loop holes just in case). Most of us optimistically believe we are facing years of bliss with the perfect mate. We arrive at this belief without seeing the end. This despite the known fact that almost half of all marriages end up with two again single people. Some even have so much faith in this ritual that they attempt it several times. We are walking by faith, not sight, like it or not.
Even the simple act of getting in one's car and driving to get a box of donuts requires this suspension of what we know to be true, i.e., that 40,000 Americans die in their cars every year. Yet we turn the key and assume we will make it to the shop and back, donuts in hand, without injury or accident. We have not seen every driver who will be on the road, every drunk, every pothole or loose dog, yet we go anyway. We are walking by faith, not by sight.
We do this, this faith walk, daily, constantly, in one situation after another, whether it's riding in an elevator, getting on a plane, going on a date, applying for a job, eating at a restaurant or even getting out of bed in the morning. If we did not we would never accomplish anything or go anywhere.
For some reason, however, we tend to rein this optimism in when it comes to placing our faith in God, the soundest, most time-proven and reliable place to invest it. If we're sick, we worry if God can really heal us, though the doctor is seen as omnipotent. If we're broke, we doubt if God really means to provide for us, though the lottery seems winnable, even if the odds are 25,000,000 to one. If we're frightened, we're not really convinced He is our shield, and buy a .45. If we feel rudderless and in desperate need of guidance, we aren't really convinced we have a Shepherd, and turn to The Psychic Network for all the answers at so much per farcical minute. This is decidedly not walking by faith, and as I said in the above paragraph is why we accomplish nothing and go nowhere.
Why are we this way? I don't know. Yet a telling fact is that while many Christians are tentative about really applying their faith, actually living by it, they have no difficulty believing in a heaven they have never so much as glimpsed and trusting that they will someday be there with a Father and Son they have never seen. Maybe this is easy for us because it seems to require nothing on our part except belief, no action, no putting ourselves at risk. There is nothing on the line at present, only eternity somewhere. There's no sense of urgency; we can wait. When, on the other hand, we're sick, we need immediate help, and that requires us to trust God to act sooner rather than later. It requires us to put forth such faith as we possess and do something: believe for something to happen. That's a different thing altogether. Or is it?
I look at it this way. I know not one soul who has ever gone to heaven and come back to relate their experience to me. I do, however, know dozens of people who have experienced miraculous healing. I have experienced it myself. I have a big black book in front of me that describes hundreds, even thousands, of divine health interventions. It is this same book that tells me the little bit I know about the heaven I've never seen. As a result, it's actually a lot easier for me to envision healing than heaven, though I believe in both. Is this the only reason I believe in healing? No. And remember I had to start with only scriptural promises before I ever saw one take place. But now it's easier, though it still requires me to believe that God can overcome what my eyes or the doctors say is final. Thankfully, I now know this can be done.
This is because, though we walk by faith and not by sight, our faith is not blind, nor should it be. It is based in part on what we have seen God do, whether in scripture or in our lives. It is built on knowledge of God, not ignorance of Him (which is why knowing your Bible cannot be overstressed). It has for its foundation His Word. This is what allows us to survey the natural circumstances, acknowledge them as real, maybe even perilous, but know for a certainty that they are not the highest reality and that God can turn even the most impossible situation around. He has the final say. This is walking by faith, not by sight. Really it's not such a strange thing to do. You trust Him to resurrect you from death and give you an eternal home. You trust Him to forgive your sin and save you from hell. You wouldn't pray to him if you thought He was deaf, unconcerned or nonexistent. Start trusting Him to keep His word in this life, now, when you need it, no matter what you're facing. Just pretend you're going to get donuts.
The Bottom Line
(or get to the point, Kona!)
(John 21:7b)
Peter was not in a good frame of mind. He had stood outside in the dark when Jesus had been arrested, mocked and beaten and denied that he knew Him, not just once, but three times. He had been helpless as his teacher and friend, whom he believed to be the Christ, was led to His death and executed. Everything had gone wrong. Yet a gleam of hope had come to him. He had heard that the tomb had been found empty. Other disciples had claimed to have seen the risen Jesus and even to have talked with Him.
Still, Peter felt very alone and very ashamed. All this rumor was little consolation. The man who swore to protect Jesus even to the death had showed a cowardice alien to his bold nature. There was nothing left to do but return to his prior livelihood. "I'm going fishing", Peter said tersely to some of the disciples who had joined him at the Sea of Tiberias. "We'll come with you", they said.
It must have been uncomfortable and cheerless in that little boat, as the men sat throughout the long night with not even a single catch to break the monotony and the gloomy silence. But as morning came, their attention was drawn to a lone figure standing some hundred yards away on the shore. The stranger shouted out to them, "Children, have you any food?" No, they answered. "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some", the stranger shouted back. This they did and immediately the net was so full they could not pull it in.
John peered more closely at the stranger, turned to Peter and said, "It is the Lord!" Now the men had all stripped down to their undergarments for a night of fishing. Peter fumbled into his clothes, and not waiting for the others, dove out of the boat and swam to shore. There he found Jesus sitting calmly by a fire roasting bread and fish. The others finally arrived, and following Jesus' instructions to bring some of their catch with them, Peter himself ran to drag the overflowing net onto the shore. Though the net held more fish (153 big ones) than it was designed to, it did not rip. It was the most wonderful breakfast they had ever eaten.
There are several things to take note of in this short passage from John. First, when Jesus tells you to do something, it's a good idea to do it. Second, we can see that wherever Jesus is, there is abundance and provision. Without Him there is nothing but an empty net. Further, if the Lord is the provider of your abundance, it is secure.
We also are given a very obvious analogy. These guys were about to go from fishers of fish to fishers of men. Without Jesus' omniscient guidance they would not even know where to throw their net. With Him, they would catch millions.
However, the restoration of Peter is the most wonderful point of this story to me. Here is a man who is beside himself with grief and shame, has seen his whole world destroyed and in an instant has it all given back to him. We also see just why Jesus chose him. He, for the second time, is the only one to get out of the boat.
This is where Peter really becomes the man we know as one of the founders of the faith. After breakfast, Jesus gives him his chance to undo those three previous denials that have burdened him for days. Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him. Three times Peter assures Him that he does. And three times Jesus tells him to feed and care for His sheep. Peter is restored.
But it is not all good news for Peter. Jesus also revels to him how he will die. He too would be crucified, but his death would glorify God. Apparently, this does not deter the now unstoppable Simon Peter. And somehow, in what is one of the least noticed miracles of all, he is transformed from a simple, barely educated fisherman, to a scholar, writer and selfless and courageous leader who would usher in Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and help lay the foundations we still stand on 2,000 years later. Why was Peter chosen? Probably because He saw a man who just couldn't wait to be rowed to shore.
The Bottom Line
(or get to the point, Kona!)
(Psalm 75:6-7)
Today's verse will please some of you, others will find it discouraging. It depends on your personality. Me, I like it, because I've always been terrible at self-promotion, preferring to let others discover how truly wonderful I really am on their own and without my assistance. Yet many of you would prefer not to leave something this important to chance, and blessed with the kind of personality that handles rejection with ease, or notices it not at all, have no problem blowing your own horn incessantly if it increases your odds of success. Both types of people, however, usually feel that if they just had the right connections, they could achieve that goal they've set for themselves. So consciously or not, we tend to cultivate relations that can propel us toward that end.
I don't think there is anything wrong with associating with those who can further your career, goals, education or growth. It's a wise thing to do. But today's verse makes it clear that the success we hope for will come through God alone. He may use connections we've made, but it will be His choice.
To see the proof of this one need only flip through the Bible. Almost everyone who was anyone did not bring about his or her own success. It happened to them, sometimes in spite of themselves. David comes to mind, a simple teenage shepherd with no apparent dreams of ever being the king of Israel. Even Saul wasn't campaigning for the job. Abraham, Moses, Gideon and Joseph were placed in positions of power when none of them sought it or particularly deserved it. Three of them didn't even want it. Joseph of course dreamt of power, though it certainly didn't arrive in the way he would have chosen. There are many others, but none as obvious as Jesus, who never sought to exalt Himself but chose rather to let the Father exalt Him in due time.
But those are Bible people living in a Bible time, you might be thinking. Things were different back then. Today you have to get out there and be aggressive. Nice guys finish last. Nobody hands you anything. You have to fight for it. It's a dog eat dog world, and several other clichés I can't think of right now. Then that must mean that the Word of God has some sort of expiration date on it and we're on our own now.
No, God's promise in today's verse is just as true, just as applicable and just as formidable as it ever was. Nothing has changed. He still does the exalting, and He still does the putting down. We just aren't always aware of it. And certainly too few successful people stop to give Him credit.
To see this in a truly revelatory way, watch almost any episode of A&E's Biography series. It is a real eye-opener to the reality of God working behind the scenes, and sometimes right out front, in people's lives. Famous person after famous person I have seen profiled seems to have had greatness literally happen to them. Often they were headed in a completely opposite direction from where they ended up and an accident, setback, rare opportunity or chance meeting opened a series of doors they never even knew were there. This is how God works. If you know how to look, you can see His signature on countless numbers of these lives.
Of course that doesn't always mean that people He worked with acknowledged His help or even recognized His existence. So many of them lost all He had awarded them, just like the previously mentioned Saul. Started good, ended bad. You will see that, too, in many of the lives of the rich and famous we look up to.
That is a good thing to remember. You don't want to get so far and then lose it all. So while you're praying that God, in His time and in His way, will lift you to the place you need to be, the place He wants you to be, ask Him for one more thing. Ask Him for humility. It will help you hold on to the treasure He gives you.
The Bottom Line
(or get to the point, Kona!)
.HAVE FAITH IN GOD!
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