I like how the Word of God uncovers the fundamental building blocks of how God wants us to live our lives. This makes it easy for each of us to return to the essence of what He is saying so that we do not miss the “spirit of the law” for the “letter of the law”.
For instance, Jesus Himself alluded to this importance of grasping the fundamentals and essence of the law when He spoke about the greatest commandment – “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” And the following commandment is also like it – “love your neighbour as yourself.” All the laws and the prophets, He said, were “hung” (κρέμαται (krematai) on these two commandments (Matthew 22:40).
So out of all the dos and don’ts that we read about in the Bible, as we continue to walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit, by simply loving Him and loving others, there will be a flow through in the fulfillment of the rest of the laws and the divinely inspired directions provided through His prophets. The apostle Paul himself expands on what love is about in 1 Corinthians 13, and adds that faith, hope and love remain, with love being the greatest.
On that note, let’s focus on this element of faith, especially since without it, we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith in its most basic form, is trust. And like any other part of our spiritual development, there is a need to grow in our trust in God. It is easy to say “I trust You, God”, as it is to say “I love You, God”, but the only way to know if we trust or love God is by the demonstration of what we profess. And the demonstration of our profession (what we profess) can only come when we are presented with choices and options; one of which would be the only answer that demonstrates whether our actions are in sync with what we profess.
There is a funny story about a man who fell off a cliff and he managed to hang onto a branch, which hung over a ravine. He prayed aloud “God, if You are up there…. Please rescue me.” All of a sudden, he heard a booming voice. “Jump. I will uphold you.” The man was unsure if he heard right. And so, he prayed again, “God, if You are up there, rescue me!” to which the voice replied “Jump! I will uphold you.” At that moment, the man hesitated, and he called out in an even louder voice “Is there anybody else up there??”
Perhaps you can relate to this story in some way – the “incessant need” to fleece for more “confirmations”, the deliberate delays on your part in acting on what He said, the complains that the past was so much better (a la Israelites in the wilderness), and the list goes on. Where are you today in your faith – your trust in God? What areas of your life do you find yourself struggling in the lack of trust (faith) in?
Let’s take the time to reflect on this and commit it to God. Surrender the lack of faith to Him. Ask for strength and wisdom to progress and grow in this area.