Confidence

"Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward" ~Hebrews 10:35

It's been too long since I sat down to write and process many of the things the Lord has been speaking and doing in our life. Last week, I went through a "brief" chaplaincy training. Now I am able to work on the congregational ministry team - at a church I no longer attend. Oh well, it got me out of the house, gave me some added ministry tools, and was yet another strong reminder from God that I need to continue to cultivate a heart of love and compassion towards my "neighbor." It also frequently struck another thought I would like to share with any of you out in Internet Land.

I heard a vast amount of "bad theology" the past few weeks. First of all, those who know me -and perhaps the few of you who don't, but are kind enough to be take this excursion into my mind - should have it figured out by now that I do not like the "religious buzz words" swarming around Christianity today. Theology is one of those; it makes a relationship with God and the study of His Word out to be more of a scientific study, rather than a life-changing work of the Spirit. However, for the sake of discussion, I will use the dirty religious word. The scope of Christianity is still confused. I'll even admit that I am frequently confused. I rarely sit and write from the standpoint of "expert." I am out to find the Truth of God's Word, and why so many of us are incapable of walking in the fullness of that Truth. I have to be very careful, because some of the promises I have found in the Word are not going to line-up with the horrible experiences many believers have faced in this life. However, I am finding in Scripture that the reason many of the horrible things we experience happen is because we are incapable of fighting "the fight of faith" (1Timothy 6:12). Do we really hold God to His Word, or do we let religion "comfort" us into believing our painful experiences are "part of The Plan"?

We have learned how to do some things very well in Church. We know how to "get people saved." We all have the prayer of conversion, the sinner's prayer, whatever, down to the proper voice inflection. We can get people saved. Even when we do not feel like we are in right standing with God, we have confidence in God's Word regarding our salvation, because we have preached it over and over and over for millennia. We have developed confidence in God's promise that "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). That is a biblical promise that no one has an issue with believing and trusting - regardless of how one feels or what situations look like. We also know how to make God our Comforter. We know that in all situations we are to turn to the Lord to be our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). We have Philippians 4:6-7 on our spiritual "speed dial" when people are in trouble. We enjoy using Romans 8:28 to justify painful moments in our lives as being "tools of God," that He is "doing a work" in us, "performing heart surgery," and so-on. Perhaps that is true. However, Scripture tells us that the primary means of God performing this "heart surgery" is through the Word, not through testings and trials (Hebrews 4:12). Yes, He does instruct us to hold fast in times of trials, so that our patience will be perfected, and our reward made all the greater (James 1:2-4, Amplified). He doesn't say that He will break our legs, cripple our bank accounts, or kill-off a loved one in order to get our attention. That is reserved for very extreme cases, involving overwhelming sin - not to mention, they are all under the Old Covenant. However, since we do not fully grasp these concepts yet, we have learned to comfort ourselves in "God is Sovereign, this is all in His timing." We know how to comfort ourselves in the Word, because we have practiced it for centuries.

What we do not know how to do yet, however, is make God our Healer. We know exactly where to go in the Word to find salvation and comfort; we know all the verses the Lord has given regarding His Lordship (many of which we mis-quote in order to give our circumstances more meaning). We have developed confidence in His ability to bring us peace unlooked-for, but we haven't built-up our confidence in God as Healer. Look at James 5:15, "and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick" (emphasis added). The Lord gives us precise instructions on how to prayer for sick people in order for them to get well. However, lots of Christians are dying today, because we do not have the confidence in God to come through for us in times of physical turmoil. I know this, because of the overwhelming number of times I have heard pastors praying for God to minister to the doctors, rather than to the sick. There is a prayer for healing written in my chaplaincy manual that does that very thing. It prays more for the physicians hands than it does to the Great Physician. There is no faith in it, there is no confidence in God's Word in it. Remember what the Lord said while He was on this earth, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father" (John 14:12)? I do not see greater things happening, I see us all floundering and dying in confusion.

Most of us are dirt poor while we are at it. We have not developed confidence in God as our Provider. We sing songs about "Jehovah Jireh," but then we reject the very teachings of Scripture regarding His Blessing in our lives. I'm not a "name it and claim it" guy, but His Word has made it clear that His desire is to Bless. The heart of God is a giving heart. Take out your Bible today (or use bible gateway right now, since you are currently on the internet) and look up these verses: 2Samuel 12:8; Psalm 84:11; Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13; John 15:16; Romans 8:32; James 1:17; 1John 5:14-15. You will find a very brief outline regarding the giving heart of our Lord. Why is it that we are so proficient in salvation and comfort, but so incapable of receiving healing and prosperity? It is because of our confidence.

We have not developed confidence in God's Word regarding all areas of life. We have clung to Scripture regarding suffering and assumed that God is trying to keep us down for some strange reason. I know that God desires humility, I know that His desire is for us to make Him the Source and the Standard of all things. I know the Book, so I also know that God wants us to have faith, first and foremost; and that self-abassment (false humility in painful circumstances) is not what he means by being humble. Look the biblical definition of faith, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses" (Hebrews 11:1, Amplified). Faith is a now thing, that gives us complete confidence in God and in His Word - that He will do all that is therein.

Do you have absolute confidence in all of God's promises, or have you let religion teach some of them away? We are not good about believing God for Him to heal us and our loved ones. We pray Him out of our prayers for healing, because we are so scared of getting our hopes up and having them dashed. I know that is true, because I have been there. I know that is true, because people have died "believing." And what about "the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away"? God rebuked Job for that attitude, because it is't really true. If we could all get together and begin to "practice" the things of God, we would develop the kind of confidence necessary to get things done. According to 2Peter 1, it takes a "true knowledge of Him" to bring about "everything pertaining to life and godliness." The tools to live in full victory are found in a true and unwavering knowledge of God, Jesus, and the Word. It is going to take a group effort on our part to build confidence in all of Scripture, not just the easy parts we have mastered over the centuries. I cannot do this by myself. Like I said, I am not yet an "expert" on this topic. My financial situation is so overwhelming at times that I can hardly breath. It takes a growing confidence in God's promises that I shall reap the things I have sown. I have sown as much as I can, I need my return soon. If I am not careful, I will kill-off or hinder my harvest. The Word says He will prosper me in all that I do; I have to be confident in that. I do not need my harvest in "the sweet by-and-by," I need it in the rotten here-and-now. We all do.

Stop praying for doctors and economists (well, don't stop praying for anybody, but don't pray for them only). Pray to the Healer, pray to the Provider. Develop confidence in His Word regarding Blessing. He has pressed this hard into my wife and I these past weeks, because we really need it at this moment. I have a hunch that many of you out there do, too. Your employment and IRA and retirement funds cannot be your source of supply, because they will run out. The world's healthcare system is liable to kill you off before you hit 120 (Go read Genesis 6). If we do not begin to develop faith in all things we will not live out the fullness of the Blessing of God in our lives (Romans 15:29). Do not let past failures bring you down; do not let past experiences cloud your judgment, but rather take the attitude given us by the apostle Paul, "forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13b-14). We all need to begin acting as if every word of Scripture is true. Jesus questions us all, "when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8). Well...?