“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5–6, ESV)
My grandson once wanted to learn how to fish. He was five-years old. So, I took him out in the back yard with one of my freshwater spinning rod and reel combinations.
I tied a weight on the line and attempted to show him how. I said to him, “Let me.” Yet, before I could finish the sentence, he said, “I know how to do it Papa. Five-year olds can do anything!” So, I gave him the rod and stood back. Of course, it didn’t work. the line wrapped around the rod tip, and he was a bit embarrassed. I then asked him, “Now do you want me to show you how to do it?” He sheepishly said, “Yes Papa.” the problem was that he thought he knew everything. He was trusting in himself.
That is one of the great problems when using the faith filter. Many when thinking they are living by faith, ultimately are really trusting in themselves. The Scriptures are full of examples of this. We see two huge problems in the experience of the Israelites failed attempt to go into the Promised Land (Numbers Chapters 13 and 14).
After going getting to the Promised Land, the Lord has Moses send twelve spies into the land He is going to give them. They go in and see a plentiful land, but it is inhabited by a fearsome enemy. They come back and give a dreadful report. All that is but Joshua and Caleb. Joshua and Caleb contend that the Lord will give them the land. Yet the others persuade the nation that they will be soundly defeated because of the inhabitants of land. As a result, the Nation rebels against Moses and the Lord. They decide to appoint a leader and return to Egypt. This is a huge faith problem.
The problem of the Israelites was that they were faithless. They were trusting in their own abilities rather than the power of the omnipotent God. It was called the Land of Promise for a reason. God had promised to Abraham to give the land to the Nation. He had demonstrated to them over and over His power to deliver and His perfect ability to keep that which He had promised. Yet, they did not trust God at His word. They walked by sight and not by faith.
In the same way, people today misplace their trust. The word of God is filled with promises from God. It is filled with precepts regarding how we should do things. Yet, very often believers determine to do things in their own strength, or according to their own human reasoning rather than trusting God, doing things His way and trusting Him in the midst of the situation.
So, the questions that one must ask are many. Here are a couple. 1) Am I trusting in human reasoning (the way I see things) or am I seeing things through the lens of the Bible? 2) Do I think it is up to me to move mountains or God?
Think about it. More on this story in the next post.
Renewing the Heart 