According to Bishop T.D Jakes, “Faith becomes a bridge between where I am and where I want to go — it is a substance.” Having walked with God for a couple of years, I have engaged in a rigorous study in order to discover more about some selected men in the scripture, who have been involved with God’s ways of commands and His regimented nature of managing relationships.
It is really a call to tread in the dark places and still be focused even when they cannot see things and events clearly. Walking in the dark is tantamount to a life that is actively engaging in things that cannot be seen, but has a stable belief that it shall be well, even if the present situation appears to be bleak and unpromising; the end is guaranteed to be perfect. In order words, this set of men did not work by sight but they lived each of their lives actively depending on faith in God.
Paul emphasised this in his epistle to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight”. Abraham, the father of faith, as he is usually called, demonstrated a one-of-a-kind faith, which separated him and made him stand out from the crowd in an era of lawlessness and paganism. He did not allow himself to be disillusioned by the trends of general social attitudes, culture, and the traditions of the age, but exhibited an uncommon faith in a God who was not popular during that same period. The same disposition which was held could be traced to Noah, as he decided to yield to the call because he had faith in God. This then opens up another perspective to the concept of faith in the episode of Noah’s response to building an ark to save himself and his family, as instructed by God.
It was possible for Noah to build a thought around God’s reaction to the people of the earth. Genesis 6:7 “And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”
Does God not have a dangerous motive towards Noah and his family, asking him to build an ark and only he and his family should go in? What has he done to deserve this kind of special favour and grace? Does God really have mercy – as He is called a merciful God? If he is merciful, why would He want to destroy and wipe off an entire world with a flood?
These are questions that must have come into Noah’s reasoning faculty, but he was not bothered by all these issues with who God is and what God’s motive is, as the most crucial thing to him was the faith and belief he has in God. Noah has absolute confidence in God who called him during the wicked era he found himself. Consequently, he found grace because of his confidence in the Almighty. Genesis 6:8 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”
Your faith in God accompanies grace and this ushers you into your inheritance in Christ Jesus. In our troubled world today, we must be willing to look beyond the present circumstances and focus on Jesus, Who is able to keep and sustain us through the Spirit, who lives on the inside of us. What is the circumstances surrounding your family, career, business, ministry, health, etc? Yield to what the Spirit is asking you to do, and depend on the strength that comes from your faith in Jesus, and you would find rest.
Welcome into the month of September!
