Senseless Faith: Intro

Senseless Faith

Family, while I willingly carry the burden of preaching, I must often realize the need to be preached to. That on some occasions, the word I am preaching can feed me, but on other occasions, God must still me and get my attention. I am one who can get so wrapped up in the work of God, that I can forget to consult the will of God for my life. Yes, I pray and read the Bible; but there is a difference in consulting God and simply praying. When you consult God, you wait for an answer before you make any further decisions. Some of us would rather decide and ask God to bless our decision. The reason why we do this is because we think that we are SMART! We think that God has given us enough sense to logistically consider all our own decisions, but the truth of the matter is that God is far more logical than us. We need to remember to not simply be Logical, but also theological. Why? Because Faith in God will often defy your logic. God will literally do some things that will make ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE. God will do things that will call us to question whether our own logic and say that this can't be God’s will. But this is not something new, as it is seen all throughout the bible.

·         It was Senseless for Noah to build an Ark when it wasn’t raining

·         It was Senseless for Sarah to consider being pregnant during old age

·         It was Senseless for Elijah to pour water on wood that he wanted to set on fire

·         It was Senseless for David to take on Goliath with a Slingshot

·         It was Senseless for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to think God to Deliver Them

While these people look like pioneers of Great courage and faith, the reality is that they were experiencing the same types of issues that we deal with daily. The weight of uncertainty riddled them in the same ways that it riddles us. Let me be clear that I am not one who has ever professed to be the poster child for faith but rather, I am taking a leap of faith to even discuss it. While faith is one of the most important and integral factors of our walk with God, the truth is that the Body of Christ is often left with the conundrum of forgetfulness. In other words, we lack faith in God because we suffer from Spiritual Amnesia. That we become so overwhelmed with the possibilities set before us, that we forget the tangibility of what God has already done for us.

True faith (or for some, Blind Faith) is the willingness to relinquish full control to God, without even knowing the possibility of what God can do. We don’t fail at Blind Faith, we fail at, but rather the counter. We fail to trust or have faith in a God whom we have seen heal, set free and deliver, time and time again. God ubiquitous presence is always felt when we are all found in the Glory of our Stories or when we look over our lives with hindsight but in the moments of despair and turmoil, we can ever find God. What if God is calling us to become a people who will lean into God’s will, even when we can’t find God’s hand. Those are the moments when we need faith. Faith is not the belief that God will do what God has proven to you is possible before; but on the contrary, Faith is the willingness to trust God in new positions and territories that you’ve never seen God at work in.

This is the gift of relationship and therefore the reason why scripture reveals to us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. the reason why this text bears such relevance is that if we don’t believe that God is able, we will never believe that because of the God (our creator) we are able to do all things through Christ who strengthens us. The issue with senselessness is our perceived loss of control. We think that we are the sole driver of our own destiny, due to our understanding of God’s construction. Faith creeps into our perception and shows us that we have no capacity to do it on our own. The reality is that without God’s help, it is impossible to live a fulfilled life. Whether or not we acknowledge God, doesn’t erase God’s work in our lives. While our loss of control is uncomfortable for us, the reality is that this the true definition of Surrender. The only way to achieve your God-given destiny is based upon your willingness to surrender. You cannot have the destiny that God has for you until you can do as the songwriter says: Forget about yourself and concentrate on Him (being God).