Title: The righteous will live by faith
Contents
Believing in God is not as easy as you might think.
In general, the reason it is difficult to believe in God is that God is invisible. With the exception of special cases and special people, it is rare for anyone to actually experience God.
The Bible clearly states that we ask God, “If you ask, he will give, if you seek, you will find; if you knock, the door will be opened.” However, we do not know how many cases in which we ask, knock, and seek, but still no answer.
If we do not pray, nothing will ever happen, and if we always pray, it will be easier for us to believe in God. However, the reality is that there are many people who have a hard life even though they believe in God.
Another reason we have a hard time believing in God is that we often do not understand God at all.
Nevertheless, there were people in the Bible who believed in God very well. Abraham, who is called the father of faith, is that man. God suddenly appeared to Abraham one day and told him to leave his father's house. Abraham did not know where he was going and left. Not only that. Abraham had no children. At that time, not having children was many times more difficult and difficult than now. Abraham nevertheless believed in God.
God appeared to Abraham when he was 75 years old and promised to give him a child. 75 is not the age to have children. However, it was 25 years later that Abraham actually gave birth to a son, Isaac. 25 years from 75 to 100 is not a short time. Even to Abraham, God was not well understood and invisible. Nevertheless, Abraham believed and hoped for God's promises in the midst of hopelessness. Faith is believing in things that are not seen, not grasped, and never understood.
Even for Job, God was incomprehensible. Job was said to be a perfect, upright, and turned away from evil. One day, while the children were gathering at the eldest son's house, the house collapsed and he lost ten of his beloved children in an instant. I lost all my property. Everything in sight has collapsed. Even Job's wife left Job, saying that he would rather curse God and die. Job could not understand why he had to suffer like this, but his faith in God did not waver. Moreover, in his despair, Job praised God, saying, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job 23: “I go forward and he is not there; I go back and I do not see him; he works on the left, but I cannot find him; he turns to the right, but he cannot be seen. But he knows the way I go, and after he has tried me I will come out as pure gold.” This is how Job believed and praised God. This kind of faith is the true faith that God wants.
Joseph was a nobleman in Jacob's family. However, he was hated by his brothers and sold into slavery overnight. Joseph, who became a slave, was falsely framed and imprisoned as a prisoner. Even if life is twisted, it can't be that twisted.
Joseph could not understand God, but he believed. Even when he was sold into slavery in Egypt and imprisoned unfairly, Joseph's faith did not waver. Because he had faith, he did not become discouraged even when he became a servant. I didn't despair. I didn't give up. I wasn't resentful. Even as a servant, he worked hard and served well. I didn't feel bad or blame God. Even though he was unfairly imprisoned in prison, he served well as a prisoner. Although Joseph could not understand what was happening to him, he trusted God. Eventually, Joseph became a prosperous man with God and ascended to the rank of prime minister of Egypt. If Joseph had been in the arms of his father Jacob in the land of Canaan, Joseph would not have been the prime minister of Egypt. And maybe he died of starvation during the seven years of famine. The whole process of Joseph's life was incomprehensible at the time, but it was in God's amazing plan.
We need the same faith. In life, things happen that you can't understand. Looking at the cross-section from moment to moment, it seems that God does not exist. It seems that God is incompetent. It seems that God has forsaken me. But it is not. God is always with me. And he is omnipotent and loves me. Faith is believing in a good God and believing that there is a good will of God in all things, even when we cannot understand them.”
This faith saves us. God is not the object of understanding, but the object of faith.
This is the desire of our Lord.
Question 1) Please share the grace and thanksgiving given through the Word, as well as the touching and challenging content.
Question 2) What is the biggest obstacle to becoming a person of faith like Abraham, Joseph, Job, Daniel's three friends, and Paul?
Question 3) The faith that God requires, the faith that can overcome the world, and the faith that can resist the temptations of Satan are absolute faith. Even if my reality is incomprehensible, it is a faith that does not waver even if things do not go the way I want. This kind of faith is the true faith and the faith that God requires. What level of belief is my belief?