ACTIVE FAITH



God doesn't respond to your needs or your wants or your wishes. He responds to your faith. This is an important principle. When two blind men came to Jesus and asked to be healed, Jesus said, "According to your faith will it be done to you." (Matthew 9:29) God responds to your faith.

Someone reading this is facing a difficult situation. Maybe it has to do with money, or maybe it has to do with a relationship, or maybe it has to do with your health — but you're up against it, and you need God to intervene. Do you know what will get his attention? Or, more accurately, do you want what will ignite his action? The situation, in and of itself, won't. Neither will your whining and complaining. Do you know what ignites the action of God? Your faith. "According to your faith will it be done to you."

In Hebrews 11:6 it says, “Anyone who comes to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” God responds to your faith. He rewards it. When you seek him, he goes to work in your life.

There are some who talk as if the life of faith is a life of inactivity. There are some who imply that it's a life of doing nothing, and expecting God to do everything. But here's what I've learned. The more faith I have, the more I do. The more faith I have, the harder I work. When I'm inactive, it's not because I'm believing God to do everything, it's because I'm afraid that God will do nothing. When I'm trusting God the way that I should be trusting God, I work very hard because I know that God will reward my demonstration of faith.

The life of faith is not an idle life, it's an active life. That's why the writer of Hebrews tells what each of these great men and women of God did to put their faith in action. By faith Noah built an ark, by faith Abraham obeyed God and moved to a foreign land, and so on.

Here's the principle: God responds to faith that is demonstrated in action. The life of faith is not a life of inactivity. It's a life of activity. People of faith take action, and when they take action God responds. He responds to faith demonstrated through actions.

Here's what I'm encouraging you to do. Don't give in to the temptation of idleness. Take action in the direction of your faith.

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