Preacher: Dr. Harold J. Sala
Series: Guidelines For Living
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion
until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “You may think that it’s easy to define faith, and so it is, but
it’s easier still to confuse people with your definition.” Martin Luther defined faith as “a lively,
reckless confidence in God.” The Quaker scholar J. Elton Trueblood said, “Faith is not belief
without proof, but trust without reservation.” In her excellent book, The Secret of a Happy
Christian Life, in a very practical vein, Hannah Smith wrote, “Faith is the simplest and plainest
thing in the world … it is simply believing God.”
All of these that I have just quoted were simply paraphrasing the words of Hebrews 11 from
the New Testament, where the writer of Scripture said, “Now faith is being sure of what we
hope for and certain of what we do not see.” The Berkeley version puts it like this: “Faith
forms a solid ground for what is hoped for, a conviction of unseen realities.”
In analyzing what the Bible says about faith, I have come to the conclusion that real faith
contains two elements: belief, which is intellectual and appeals to your mind, and trust,
which is experiential and demands a response to what you believe. It’s one thing to accept
something as a fact intellectually; totally something else to be so convinced of what you
believe that you act upon it, realizing your very life may depend on that commitment.
Years ago, George Blondin, the great acrobat and entertainer, walked across Niagara Falls on
a tight wire pushing a wheelbarrow in front of him. Having completed the arduous journey
above the churning white water of the rapids, Blondin was cheered as the crowd burst into a
thunderous applause. Finally, Blondin spoke to a little boy who was in the front as he asked,
“Son, do you think that I could push you across the falls in the wheelbarrow?” Without
hesitation, the little boy replied, “Sure!” “Fine,” drawled the acrobat, “Now you get in and I’ll
push you across,” whereupon the nervous lad quickly pushed for the back of the crowd and
the security of his mother’s apron.
You know, when it comes to trusting God, many of us are like that boy. We believe that God
can get us across the angry waters of life’s Niagaras, but we’re not sure we want to take the
ride. Belief, we have that; but we are short on trust, and without trust your faith is
incomplete. Many of the songs of the Faith talk about the importance of trust. Remember
the words of that old song, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus
than to trust and obey.” George Beverly Shea sings it so well, “Come every soul by sin
oppressed, there’s mercy with the Lord, and He will surely give you rest by trusting in His
Word. Only trust Him, only trust Him.”
Trust is the relaxation of a little puppy before the embers of the fire; trust is the hand of a
little child reaching towards his mother’s arm; it is the unspoken look in the eyes of two
lovers, the confidence that you have in someone; the assurance in your heart that God, who
cannot lie, will never let you down. Trust is faith in action, it is rest from your anxious striving,
it is freedom from worry, it is confidence that God is fully in control, therefore you may rest in
His protection. “Being confident of this,” wrote Paul as he described that life of trust, “that
He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ ”
(Philippians 1:6). If you really believe that, why can’t you trust Him? Think about it, friend.
(Resource reading: Philippians 1:1-11)
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Tommy
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