One Word Not in God's Dictionary
- Published Jun 07, 2013
What sort of faith does God reward?
We all know that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). When does that mean in practical terms? A friend wrote me this week with some good insight:
“I have come to realize that God prizes and rewards and seeks outrageous, ridiculous, absurd faith. Praying and asking God for anything is an exercise of such faith. Moses, Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, Job, the 11 Disciples, had faith that was outrageous. They followed orders that were insane, humanly speaking. They prayed and trusted God for help in situations which were hopeless, humanly speaking.
“Think about it: raising your staff over the Red Sea to make it part so that the Israelites can pass thru on dry land. Or Joshua marching around the walls of Jericho. It’s crazy.
“As I was thinking of it, that is exactly the kind of faith we are called upon to exercise in forgiving those who have hurt us. Logically, it shouldn’t work. Praying and asking God to bless those who have hurt us is, from a human perspective, absurd. Praying and asking God to help us forgive someone who has hurt us is outrageous, humanly speaking. From a human perspective, it is crazy to trust someone you have never met/seen in person and who’s voice you have never heard in an audible way, to deal with those who hurt you. Forgiveness is crazy. It is the outworking of outrageous, ridiculous, absurd, insane faith. (That is one of the reasons why many people do not take forgiveness seriously, even within the church.) And yet, that is EXACTLY the kind of faith that God prizes and rewards: ridiculous, outrageous, absurd, insane, unrealistic faith.
“We as people have the word “realistic” in our dictionary; God does not.”
I especially like that last sentence. We are “realistic” and God is not. Don’t pray today for a “realistic” faith. Pray for a ridiculous, outrageous, absurd, insane, unrealistic faith. In other words, pray for faith like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David and Daniel.
Would you like to stand out from the crowd today? Cut the word “realistic” out of your dictionary.
You never know what God will do when you stop limiting him to what you think he can do.
You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free email sermon.
