Words of unbelief – and words of faith
“Isn’t it enough that you (Moses) have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness?” (Numbers 16:13).
These are words of unbelief. The people couldn’t see past Moses – and that’s why they couldn’t see past the wilderness. When we can’t see past the preacher, we’ll end up being stuck in the wilderness.
“If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us” (Numbers 14:8).
These are words of faith. Joshua and Caleb were looking beyond the wilderness – because they were looking to the Lord.
Unbelief is all around us. Unbelief threatens to engulf us – and take over our whole way of thinking.
When unbelief seems to us to be so all-powerful, the voice of faith calls out to us.
The voice of faith is more than the voice of the preacher. Words of faith arise in us, when the Holy Spirit is working in our hearts,
We see this when we read about the preaching of Peter on the Day of Pentecost.
There is the voice of the preacher – “Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd” (Acts 2:14).
There is more than the voice of the preacher – “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”” (Acts 2:37).
The words of the preacher take us so far – but we need more than the words of the preacher. If the hearers are to be brought out of unbelief and into faith, we need the work of the Holy Spirit.
As we think about our faith, may we know, in our hearts, that true faith is always more than “I will believe.” May we know, in our hearts, that true faith comes from the Lord.
In Acts 16:14, we see this supernatural dimension – “The Lord opened Lydia’s heart to respond to Paul’s message.”
Paul was the preacher – but the power didn’t come from Paul’s personality. The power came from the Lord.
This is what brought Lydia to Christ. This is what has brought us to Christ. This is what still brings people to Christ.
Charles Cameron, better known as Charlie to his friends, lives in Scotland and is a member of the Church of Scotland. He owns several Christian blogs found at the following links:
Thanks, Andy, for reblogging this post. God bless you.