The Key to Strong Faith:
The key to strong faith is a close fellowship with God. When we know intimately the God in whose word we trust, it becomes easier to trust him when we have not other assurances but his word. It is easy to see that this intimacy was the case with Abraham. Each time God says, “Abraham,” he answers immediately, “Here I am.” That biblical way of expressing the quick and ready obedience of a servant who knows his master well. Had spent twenty-four years before Isaac’s birth becoming acquainted with this God’s faithfulness and love. He had the benefit of the years that had passed since his son’s birth to see in Isaac a daily, living reminder of God’s faithfulness. Abraham knew intimately the one in whom he trusted.
Abraham was like the young sailor in a story that was the delight of Robert Louis Stevenson. Waves crashed over the ship as it labored along the rocky coast. The danger in the air was palpable. One sailor, toiling below the water line, could contain himself no longer. In a panic, he stumbled up the stairs into the control room where he stood frozen in terror, watching the captain grapple with the controls as he fought to steer the huge ship through the rocks to open water. The captain looked over his shoulder at the scared sailor and smiled. The sailor smiled back and went back down below deck to tell the crew that everything was going to be all right. When they asked him how he knew, he said, “I have seen the face of the captain, and he smiled at me.”
Abraham had spent years looking into the face of God and had seen his smile often enough to trust him when he couldn’t see it. That is what a lifetime of waiting, in close fellowship with God, does for you. There are no shortcuts to this kind of trust. It comes only out of a reservoir of faith that has been fed by years of experience.
When asked how he became such a great orator George Bernard Shaw answered, “I learned to speak as men learn to skate or cycle, by doggedly making a fool out of myself until I got used to it.”
I love these words by Martin Luther;
This life, therefore, is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness; not health, but healing; not being , but becoming; not rest, but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing towards it. The process is not yet finished, but it is going on. This is not the end but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.
A faith like Abraham’s comes only through years of experience. There are, however, things we can do to enrich that experience. A life of prayer, meditation on the Holy Scriptures and the fellowship and worship of the church are chief. In fact they are critical. These things are to our faith what a look at the captain was to the frightened sailor. Prayer, Bible study, worship, and fellowship in the Christian community, the Church are definitely not “one-shot” experiences. Their value is cumulative, not instantaneous.
The letters to the editor section of a newspaper printed a letter complaining about the sermons the writer heard each week in his church. He figured that he had heard nearly 1500 sermons in a lifetime of church attendance, but could remember what was said in only two or three. He proposed that the sermon served no good purpose and should be discarded. A fury of protest followed. But the best word came from a man who wrote: “As near as I can tell, I have eaten nearly 55,000 meals in my fifty years on this planet. I can remember what I ate in only a few of them. I would give up eating, but I have the distinct impression that I would soon be dead if I did.”
The power of prayer, the Word of God, the fellowship and the worship of the church are food to us. These exercises may not be memorable, but they are crucial to the nourishment of our life with God.
The key to strong faith is a close fellowship with God. And the key to fellowship with God is fellowship with His people, His family, His body, the church. I cannot encourage you strong enough to get involved in our new Sunday School hour (8:45 – 9:45 every Sunday am). This time will allow all of us to grow in our faith by developing stronger relationships with each other. It will give us an opportunity to grow in our understanding of the Word and how to apply it to our lives.
I sincerely desire to see each and every one of you grow stronger in your faith. This is a great opportunity for all of us to become more like the Master. See you Sunday.
Living in the Light of the Cross,
Bishop Quintin
