The Rock and the Hard Place Part 2
Are You Satisfied With Your Faith Part 1?
Scriptures: Matt. 9:20-22, 27-29; 15:21-28; Mark 5:35-36; Luke 8:22-25; 17:11-19
Introduction:
In part one of this series “The Rock and the Hard Place” I shared with you that being between the rock and the hard place is not the issue. The issue is what we believe pertaining to God and our situation of being between the rock and hard place. I shared with you last week that we would be taking a look at our individual faith this morning. If you recall from last week’s message I told you that when I managed people I had to do year-end reviews which I am sure many of you have participated in. One thing that is consistent when delivering or receiving feedback during a year-end review is that everything goes fine while your discussing what the person is doing well, but the atmosphere often changes when you get to those “areas of development” that a person may have which requires improvement. All of a sudden the defenses come up and the comparisons to others begin. Well, this morning we will continue with our year-end review by looking at our faith individually. The subtitle for part two of this series is my question for you this morning and that question is “Are you satisfied with your faith?” I will do this message in two parts as it was too much to cover in one part and I want to ensure that I do not rush this.
Before I say anything else I want to tell you up front that I am not satisfied with my faith. I know there are things that I have prayed for and not received because of my faith level and some of you are probably in the same boat rowing away with me. This morning I want to show you scripturally that we must spend time “growing” our faith and that it will not happen without our doing something. If you are totally satisfied with your faith level then hopefully you’ll gleam something from this message that will enable you to help someone else. However, I am asking that all of us take a serious look at our faith and consider what our actions should be to increase it. As a baseline for your consideration of where you are in your faith walk, think about your responses to being between a rock and a hard place. Do you stress? Do you lose your appetite? Do you lose sleep? All of these things are considered “normal” by the world’s standard and most of you would look at me as if I had two heads if I told you that although this is a “normal” world response, it should not be ours. If you’re having “normal” world responses to between the rocks and hard places in your life, consider evaluating the strength of your faith. And please understand, as I said before, I am in this with you. We have been trained to not walk in faith so to un-train ourselves requires some work.
Some of you know that I have a personal Facebook account. For the most part, I may skim something and respond to family or close friends related posts but I generally don’t respond to what I read. However, it has become more and more apparent to me that a lot of Christians who post on Facebook about their faith, have a concept of faith and prayer that does not agree with what the Bible says. And I can tell you this morning that if what you believe about faith and prayer is wrong, your faith will not work and your prayers will not be answered. Let me share with you how a lot of people view “faith” issues as captured in a song I heard many years ago.
Some of you will recognize the song “Que Sera Sera”. The song (originally recorded by Doris Day) progresses through the life of the narrator from childhood, young adulthood and falling in love, to parenthood. In each stage of the narrator’s life a question was asked: “What will I be?” of “What lies ahead?” The chorus provides the answer to these questions, “Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be, the future not ours to see, Que Sera Sera, what will be will be.” Although I like this song, I disagree with the premise that what will be will be. If that were the case there would be no reason for any of us to pray or have faith because what will be will be. Based on your faith, what will be will not be can be determined by your faith! Keep this in mind: what will be does not have to be according to our faith. I will reiterate this throughout this message. We are going to look at several passages this morning about what the Bible says about the role our faith plays in our getting answers to prayer. Notice the emphasis I’ve placed on “our faith.” You are about to see why.
I. According To Our Faith
Based on what I am going to share there are questions that some will have about “judging” someone else’s faith. I am not judging anyone faith, that’s why the question is “Are you satisfied with your faith?” and it is totally personal. But I am saying that there are things that we are praying for and we are not receiving the answers we’re seeking sometimes because God says “No!” and other times because of our lack of faith. It’s up to you to know the difference in your specific situations. Let’s begin with Matthew 9:20-22. It reads: “And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, ‘If I only touch His garment, I will get well.’ But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.” Whose faith made the woman whole? Was it Jesus’ faith or the woman’s faith? It was the woman’s faith. If she had heard and believed the song, Que Sera Sera, she would have stayed home and accepted her condition because what will be will be! She would have accepted the physicians’ reports that there was no cure and just accepted her fate with grace. However, praise God she decided that what was would not continue to be; what will be will not be according to her faith! Based on her belief that through touching the hem of Jesus’ garment she would be healed she sought Him out, touched His garment and was healed. Jesus confirmed her conviction. Her faith caused her to take an action! Look down at verses 27-29.
“As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” According to whose faith would the blind men receive their sight? Was it Jesus’ faith or the two blind men’s faith? It was the blind men’s faith! Their faith caused them to take an action and follow Jesus into that house. Even though they were blind they had enough faith to have someone lead them to where Jesus was, even following Him into the house where He went. When they got to Jesus their faith would not deny them receiving their healing. They had not heard “Que Sera Sera” so they did not know what will be will be. They knew their situation and that if they did nothing, nothing would change. By their faith they took an action that led to their healing. Had they not acted they would have spent the rest of their lives blind. However, through their faith, what was would not continue to be; what will be would not be! Turn to Matthew 15:21-28.
It reads: “Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.’ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, ‘Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.’ But He answered and said, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!’ And He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ But she said, ‘Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed at once.” Have you noticed that Jesus never praised someone for their “little” faith? This is because we are born with faith, but the expectation is that we do something with it. We must grow in our faith through study, meditation and taking action on His word. If we do this consistently, our faith will grow. In the case of this woman, she came to Jesus on behalf of her daughter who was possessed by a devil. Jesus’ disciples did not have time for her and actually asked Jesus to send her away. How many times have we turned our backs on someone we deem not worthy of our attention? Jesus tells her that He came to feed the house of Israel, which this woman was not a member of. The woman responds by saying even the dogs eat crumbs from the master’s table. Jesus marvels at her response and tells her in verse 28 that her faith was great and her daughter would be healed. Whose faith freed the woman’s daughter from the devil? Was it Jesus’ faith or the mother’s faith? It was the mother’s faith! She believed what was would not continue to be because what will be will not be because of her belief that Jesus would be the difference.
Turn to Mark 5:35-36. “While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, ‘Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?’ But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” There was a ruler who came to Jesus on behalf of his daughter who was dying. While he was making his request of Jesus, his servant came and told him his daughter had died. For his servant, what was (his master’s daughter dying was what was and would continue to be.) But what was Jesus’ instruction to the ruler? The first thing He told the ruler was don’t be afraid and then He said only believe. This is important. It will be impossible for us to live in faith if we are living in fear. Let me say that again. Fear produces doubt and scripture is clear: faith will not work in the presence of doubt. Fear is often rooted in doubt. When we are not sure about something we fear the “what ifs.” Doubt causes fear and fear destroys faith. Matthew 21:21 says “…..Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea’ it will happen.” The key words are “have faith and do not doubt!” Jesus told the ruler to not be afraid and believe. The ruler believed and his daughter lived. It was not Jesus’ faith, it was the ruler’s willingness to believe! What was did not continue to be just as what will be will not be according to our faith! Turn to Luke chapter eight.
In Luke 8:22-25 we read: “Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, ‘Let us go over to the other side of the lake.’ So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” What question did Jesus ask the disciples? He asked them, “Where is your faith?” He didn’t ask them anything else did He? Do you know what that tells me? It tells me a couple of things. First, in this situation as in all situations, the only thing that matters is our faith. We either have it or we don’t. We can make all the excuses that we want, but the bottom line does not change, we are either developing our faith or we are not! Second, Jesus’s response tells me the disciples could have done the same thing He did if they had had stronger faith and believed that it was possible. They saw what was happening in the natural and did not think they could have any impact on it and Jesus told them they were wrong. We are so far from this teaching that we do not even care to impact what is happening around us. We get together, hold hands and pray and then have a congregational song that says “Que Sera Sera what will be will be…” In my mind I can see Jesus looking at them after calming the storm and saying, “You woke me up from a nice, peaceful sleep when you didn’t have too. Guys, where was your faith?” This was something He expected them to be able to handle and they were waking Him up in fear.
Doubt never entered the picture because they never considered that they could do anything about the situation to begin with. Do you understand that in order to experience doubt you must experience the thought that you can do something about a situation. The only times we experience doubt is when we know something can be different from what it appears to be but there is also a chance that it might not change. We often land on “the might not change side” but for moment there was a thought that you could make a difference. It takes faith to land on the other side of knowing you will make a difference and change the natural course of a situation. The disciples never doubted in this situation because the thought that they could change their future in the boat with the storm never crossed their minds. Jesus asked them “Where is your faith?” He knew they had it but it never occurred to them to use it in this situation. When the storm started they went straight to fear.
Are you starting to see a pattern developing here? In each of the passages we’ve read so far, the deciding factor in the person or persons receiving what they needed was their faith. If they had the faith then they received what they were having faith for. So I ask you: Are you satisfied with your faith? Turn with me to Luke chapter seventeen, our last scripture for today.
Luke 17:11-19 says: “While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?’ And He said to him, ‘Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.” Whose faith made the lepers whole? Was it Jesus’ faith or the lepers’ faith? It was the lepers’ faith! The ten lepers asked Jesus to have mercy on them and to heal them. What did Jesus say to them? He told them to go and show themselves to the priests and as they walked away they were healed. Do you see this? The lepers received a word from the Lord and then they had have faith that the word spoken to them was true. Once they believed that the word was true, then they had to act on that word. Notice that they were not made clean and healed until they started walking. The ten lepers had to walk out their faith. What do you think would have been the results had they just stood there staring at Jesus instead of just doing what He told them to do? You see, if they had just stood there it would have been evident that they had not believed. The fact that they turned around and started walking to go show themselves to the priests was proof that they believed. When they started walking their faith brought into reality what their hearts believed when they heard what Jesus spoke. So many of us say we have faith but we never take that first step and walk it out. Remember the verses in James 2:14, 17, 20, and 26? They all say the same thing: faith without works, without a corresponding action, is dead. Let me put it this way: faith has legs. Faith does something! You can confess to the world that you have faith and your confession will be null and void without some action. We have more faith in “inaction” (that something will not happen) than we do in the reality of the impossible becoming possible. And understand, I am looking myself in the mirror as this message is for me. We are all getting feedback during this year-end review. As I told you earlier, I recognize areas in my life where I must continue to grow in my faith so we are in this together.
The song “Que Sera Sera” is one of the songs I grew up singing as it was the theme song for the Doris Day show which we watched as kids. But I never thought about the words as it related to my faith walk. I have talked to people over and over again who truly believe in their hearts that whatever will be will be. They believe that regardless of how a situation works out, it must be God’s will. If they are sick and don’t get well, “Que Sera Sera” what will be will be so it’s God’s will. If they go on a job interview for a job that they really want and prayed for and don’t get it, then “Que Sera Sera” what will be will so it must have been God’s will. If someone is trying to buy a house and it does not go through, “Que Sera Sera” what will be will and it must be God’s will. I am sorry to say that this thinking allows me to feel good about my faith even though I may not have much at all. I have told people recently that God’s has my situation and that I just want to be in His will. I truly believe this even though I am sure that it has unnerved some people that I have talked to. I do not believe “Que Sera Sera” what will be will. I believe when I pray and believe, things change. I believe that through my faith I can change my circumstances. I have not changed all of my circumstances and that is why I have more growth to achieve, but I do not believe that everything that happens in my life is because that is what God desires to happen. What about you?
Do you believe in “Que Sera Sera” what will be will? Next week I will finish this message with mustard seed faith. I must clear up the confusion and unbelief that we have created by telling people you just need the faith of a mustard seed. As I close, I also want to thank my brother Barry who has provided his insight into these messages and continues to allows me to bounce ideas, concepts and theories off of him. Thanks bro!
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
