I love talking to people about faith. I especially like asking them to define it because that in itself gives rise to all sorts of definitions and descriptions. My favorite faith scenario is the one where you are about to sit in a chair. My contention is that you're not demonstrating faith by sitting down on it hoping you won't fall. Instead your faith is proved correct when you've sat down, gotten up and moved on without incident. Hebrews 11 agrees with my assessment. Faith is demonstrated or proven rather than defined.

But I call your attention to what Solomon says in his proverb. It's never about A person's faith in trusting the chair. Instead, it's about the ability of the chair to hold someone up. And isn't it true that a person's faith is not nearly as important in the faith equation as the ability and faithfulness of the one in whom they trust.

What never ceases to amaze me is the fact we believers are afraid to trust God even though He has never failed us. In fact, according to Proverbs, it's when we lean on the world that we are not only disappointed but also create problems in the process. Solomon called such "problems a snare. That's what a hunter sets for his prey. Therefore, according to Solomon, our failure to trust God is only half the problem. The other half comes when we trust someone or something else that not only fails to deliver, but also creates other problems in the process.

The first question we should answer is this, "How many of our problems are actually the result our failure to trust God?" The next question that begs to be addressed is, "What are we doing about it?"

Facing his utter disappointment of denying the Lord three times, Peter must have felt like giving up. But then after the resurrection when Jesus met him, he was given fresh hope. The Lord told Peter that after he had repented or turned around, he should make it his mission to help the equally weak disciples do the same and learn to walk by faith. Who knows, if there's hope for Peter, maybe there's hope for us as well.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru ( Ob. 1:1-21 Rv. 4:1-11 Ps. 132:1-18 Pr. 29:24-25 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society

Copyright © 1998-2004 James R. Green and Prayertower Ministries
All Rights Reserved