Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
A.W. Tozer had an interesting commentary on this verse. He said: "Faith is seeing the invisible, but not the nonexistent."
We live in a world today that seems out of control -- yet the Word clearly tells us that God remains in control.
When the Israelites were driven to the Red Sea their situation appeared impossible and desperate through human eyes. They failed their first test of faith when they told Moses it would have been better to serve as slaves than to die in the wilderness. [Exodus 14:10-12] Though they had seen His miracles of deliverance from slavery in Egypt, they failed to remember to encourage themselves with this recent history of Divine intervention.
YHVH allowed the "impossible situation" to test their faith and to reveal His glory and power!
Biblical faith believes and stands upon the invisible reality of God's presence, power, and protection, in difficult, even impossible circumstances. People of faith keep our eyes on Heaven where the Lord's sovereignty over all earthly events inspires trust which is not based on what we see, but remembers how our invisible God has delivered, preserved, and protected us in the past.
Let's not fail the test as the Israelities did, wishing they were back in Egypt! There are times when life places us in "impossible situations" which our Lord allows to test our faith and to reveal Himself and His glory. Whatever impossible situation you may be facing, encourage yourself with memories of God's past faithfulness and blessed providence. You will not know from where or how the deliverance will come. But do not allow the "invisibility" of the solution to throw you into doubt or panic. Stand firm in what you do not see, and then, see the salvation of the Lord!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]“Exhausted but still in pursuit…” Well, now we know why the angel of YHVH addressed Gideon the way he did. With his small three hundred man army he had just decimated the army of Midian — but the victory wasn’t complete, and so the Jewish general and his small, exhausted, hungry, band were determined to cross the Jordan and take care of 15,000 additional Midanite enemies and their leaders, Zebah and Zalmunna.
His nightmares began each day when he awoke. James Stegalls was nineteen. He was in Vietnam. Though he carried a small Gideon New Testament in his shirt pocket, he couldn’t bring himself to read it. His buddies were cut down around him, terror was building within him, and God seemed far away. His twentieth birthday passed, then his twenty-first. At last, he felt he couldn’t go on.
On January 1st 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which proclaimed freedom for all slaves in the ten states which were in rebellion. At the time, when U.S. Secretary of State Seward took the document to the President to sign, Lincoln took a pen, and held it for a moment. He then removed his hand and dropped his pen. Lincoln turned to Seward and said, “I have been shaking hands since nine o’clock this morning and my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.” He hesitated, then took the pen, and without wavering, took the document and boldly signed it!
For nearly 2000 years the Jewish people were scattered across the world without a homeland. In one day, according to the meticulous preparation of God, on May 14th 1948, the nation of Israel was restored. As millions of Jews were returning to their homeland they began rebuilding the ancient cities that were destroyed, restoring the desolations of many generations, and fulfilling Biblical prophecy…
As we celebrated Shavuot last night, we’re looking at the promise given 2000 years ago: that normal people will lead extraordinary lives; that disciples, who were terrified on the night of Yeshua’s (Jesus) death, were transformed into bold saints of God; and that fishermen, tax collectors, and housewives – normal everyday people – became empowered, and turned the Roman Empire inside out and upside down!
The disciples worried — we only have five small loaves and two fishes! What ever will we do?? Five loaves and two fishes could never feed the multitudes in the natural realm! But we have a God who is in the multiplication business! He works on an entirely different mathematical equation than we are accustomed to — He takes the little we offer and turns it into more than we could fathom!
Have you ever heard how the Karen people of Burma were prepared for the gospel? This unique people’s history reveals how the Lord had sovereignly preserved, in their traditions, their yearning for the one true God.