Try Faith

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. Luke 2:15

True faith in God is not blind neither is it unquestioning. True faith is tried and tested. The shepherds had just witnessed a glorious display of angelic worship and received a divine message. Their response? The Lord told us what He’s doing. Now, let’s go see. They heard, they believed, and then, they acted.

This sequence is faith. Take away any of the three elements and the fire dies down to embers. The writer of Hebrews say faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. Faith is not a mythical, unseen kind of magical thinking. Faith is the substance and evidence produced by the joining of hearing God, believing what you heard, and acting upon it.

When the shepherds did that, their eyes beheld God incarnate. Wishes, even godly wants, do not produce faith. Some like to deride Elijah under the juniper tree for what appears to be a loss of faith. Just the opposite is true. Elijah had just faced down 400 prophets of Baal and King Ahab. He accomplished that feat because he had a word from God directing him to do so.

When threatened with death by Queen Jezebel, as far as we know, he had no such word from God. You can take on the Devil anytime, but if you wish to be victorious, you better be prepared with the whole armor of God. Each piece of weaponry and armor are elements of faith—the shield, faith itself.

It’s true that God tests our faith. That is how our awareness for the need for faith, in even the smallest things, grows into complete reliance on God. The blessings of God shine brightest when seen in the dim light of trials.

The Devil once asked God, “Doth Job fear God for nought?” Job had reason to trust God. He had seen God at work in his life. Job endured because knew God’s blessing went deeper than anything earth might hold. It was for the joy set before Him that Christ endured the Cross.

Let us now go to the babe of Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass that the Lord has made known unto us.