Faith

Phil Pringle preached on Thurday night at R^se and he blows me away everytime I hear him speak. He touched on the topic of Faith & moving in the Spirit. Boy was that a Spirit filled night. He said something which opened my eyes with regards to Faith:

Faith involves doubt, doubt determines the strenght of your Faith.  Doubt will appear!!

This statement changed my view of Faith. My idea of Faith in the bible was strong, faithful men. Moses at the Red Sea, Noah building His ark, David facing Goliath. They stood tall, confident, a picture of leadership, absolutely no doubt in their minds.

Ok, now let's just say that I was in their shoes for the moment.

Me at the Red Sea: [Thinking to myself] "I hope I can swim to the other side, my staff is a great floatation device!!!"

Me at the ark: [Being ridiculed by passers by] "Oh don't be silly, I'm not building an ark, this is going to be my holiday boat!!!"

Me facing Goliath: "Since I'm so small, if I stand still enough, he [Goliath] might not notice me"

Do you notice something? The situations which Moses, Noah and David found themselves were impossible situations in human terms. Moses trapped by the sea, Noah building an ark where the nearest body of water was kilometers away and David facing a giant in battle. It seems to me that the practice of Faith will always be in situations where the odds are against us. When we have more work to finish than time in hand, when we have limited resources but so much to do.

Did these men of the bible have doubt? I don't know but Ps Pringle's statement cleared a misconception of mine about Faith. I thought Faith didn't involve doubt.

I'm not saying that doubting is ok. What I am saying is that when we decide by choice to live by Faith [yes, it is a choice], the devil will try to put doubt in our minds. Be ready for it. The devil probably knows what thoughts would discourage us the most too. So what do we do?

We push forward. Let's learn to go beyond our doubt into a new level of Faith with prayer. Just like the building of physical muscle involves resistance, the building of our Faith will also involve difficult circumstances. I mean, if Moses, Noah and David had to go through tough times, what makes you think that you're so special? :p

[Note: These illustrations are from my thoughts and not from Ps Pringle. So if there are any mistakes, they are mine. Ps Pringle's preaching with regards to Faith are my intepretation of what I heard. Best to get the CD eh? :P]