Through the Gate of Faith
Faith is a gift from God that strengthens you to take steps that you never thought you would take. I have often thought that the reason that Abraham could leave everything he ever knew was because the voice of God convinced him completely. He did not doubt in his heart because he had an encounter with God that changed him from the inside out. Another story I love in the scripture when Elijah went to the widow and asked her for the cake to eat. The story is interesting to me because of what the scripture doesn’t describe. The question that rises in my mind when I read this account is why would a woman who meets a complete stranger give up her last bit of food to him and leave her son and herself without. She obviously had a spirit of fear and death working in her life. In fact she was convinced of her own death and told Elijah that they were about to die. If a person is living in such a state what must happen eternally for them to come out of the state. It had to be an encounter with God. She wasn’t just in the presence of a mere man but a part of me feels that she was wrapped up in that moment in the presence of God. She could feel the truth of Elijah’s words in her heart and knew that God was with him and that she would be blessed in serving him. The reason that I operate in the gift of faith is because I have heard the voice of God for my life. He has convinced me that he is real and when he speaks the truth of his words radiate within my being like a lightning strike. When you have seen the great light there is nothing that can stop you from entering into the words that God speaks. Paul the apostle was going down the road to Damascus when he was surrounded by a great light from heaven. He heard the voice of Jesus within it calling him to become an apostle to the Gentile people. This was a living word that entered deep into Paul’s experience and then guided him for the rest of his days. Faith is really the outcome of hearing God speak. God’s voice is the fuel of faith. Seeking him becomes the way of hearing and hearing becomes the means of entering into the things unseen. When God speaks the whole world may think you are foolish but you have been convinced and as you step into what God has said what the world sees as faith in you is just really presumption on your part because God spoke, you listened and then acted. In acting you did not have fear even though what you did was amazing in many people’s eyes. The truth though is it wasn’t faith at all that lead you to act because when you have spoken with the King and he tells you to do something you just do it. He is not hidden to those who seek him and when they hear his voice they are fruitful in the moment of hearing. I pray for you today that you will be strengthened by the voice of God to enter into the strength of God for your life. May you be so filled with his voice that you end up going around the world twice before you ever think it is amazing.
