Time Out! Devotions

What Is Faith?

Hebrews 11:1-2 (NCV)

¹ Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it. ² Faith is the reason we remember great people who lived in the past.

Romans 10:17 (NCV)

¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing the Good News, and people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.

Galatians 5:6 (NCV)

⁶ The important thing is faith—the kind of faith that works through love.

1 John 5:4 (NCV)

⁴ Everyone who is a child of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world—our faith.

John 6:28-29 (NCV)

²⁸ The people asked Jesus, “What are the things God wants us to do?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent.”

Psalm 118:8 (NCV)

⁸ It is better to trust the Lord than to trust people.

Hebrews 11:6 (NCV)

⁶ Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who truly want to find him.

Luke 17:5 (NCV)

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”

Hebrews 6:12 (NCV)

¹² We do not want you to become lazy. Be like those who through faith and patience will receive what God has promised.

James 1:5-6 (NCV)

⁵ But if any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He is generous to everyone and will give you wisdom without criticizing you. ⁶ But when you ask God, you must believe and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown up and down by the wind.

Psalm 37:3, 5, 7 (NCV)

³ Trust the Lord and do good. Live in the land and feed on truth. ⁵ Depend on the Lord; trust him, and he will take care of you. ⁷ Wait and trust the Lord. Don’t be upset when others get rich or when someone else’s plans succeed.

Psalm 55:22 (NCV)

²² Give your worries to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will never let good people down.

Psalm 62:8 (NCV)

⁸ People, trust God all the time. Tell him all your problems, because God is our protection.

Isaiah 43:1-2 (NCV)

¹ Now this is what the Lord says. He created you, people of Jacob; he formed you, people of Israel. He says, “Don’t be afraid, because I have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine. ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you.

Isaiah 41:13 (NCV)

¹³ I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, and I tell you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will help you.’

Proverbs 3:5 (NCV)

⁵ Trust the Lord with all your heart, and don’t depend on your own understanding.

Isaiah 50:10 (NCV)

¹⁰ Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his servant? That person may walk in the dark and have no light. Then let him trust in the Lord and yet depend on his God.

(by Dr. Charles Stanley from the February 2010 issue of In Touch devotional magazine)

Judges 7:1-8 (NIV)

¹ Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. ² The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, ³ announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

⁴ But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

⁵ So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” ⁶ Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

⁷ The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.” ⁸ So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.

The story of Gideon offers scriptural guidance for times when the odds are overwhelming and defeat seems imminent. No matter what your challenges are, the Lord is able to demonstrate His awesome power and deliver you.

God uses difficulty to build faith. Gideon was willing to believe God and go up against an army four times larger than his own. Trusting the Lord is a process which must be learned through experience. At times God takes the people He uses and places them in impossible situations—in that way, they discover that He is faithful. We may prefer to acquire faith by reading a book, but the Lord knows that the best classroom is a place of utter helplessness.

God may require us to do what seems unreasonable. The Israelites were already outnumbered, but the Lord instructed Gideon to reduce the army to a mere 300 men. That made the odds 450 to one! Although God’s ways may seem illogical to us, His wisdom and power are far greater than ours, and His plan can be trusted.

God leads us to do that which brings Him glory. The army was now so small that its men could in no way take credit for the victory. The Lord delights in demonstrating His awesome power and glory through our weakness and inadequacy.

Consider life’s challenges as opportunities for the Lord to build your faith and prepare you for ministry. He uses those who are willing to obey Him even when the task seems illogical or impossible. And He takes pleasure in showing His faithfulness to those who trust in Him regardless of the situation.

(by Joan Wester Anderson)

Marie Vincze was driving on a lonely ten-mile stretch of red clay road to drop off her teenage daughter at a wilderness camp.  It was hard enough to keep the car on the slippery mud and not end up in a ditch, but her three young boys were bouncing around in the back seat, and the noise was deafening.  “Pray,” she heard the word in her heart just as the car slid off the road and came to a stop, its wheels stuck in the clay.

“Oh, no!”  Marie opened her door and realized that the mud was almost up to the floorboard.  There was no way they were going to get out of here without help.

“I could have panicked, but I decided to have faith instead,” Marie says.  She turned to the three boys, now completely silent, and said, “Sing your Sunday School songs—right now!—and don’t stop until I tell you to, no matter what!”  Beside her, her daughter rolled her eyes.  This girl believed in nothing at the moment, unless she could see and hear it.  But right now, Marie had to pray.

“God,” she began, “please remember Psalm 91 and let the angels bear us up.  If I ever needed help, it’s now!”  The boys continued to sing, and Marie felt peace spreading over all of them, warming their souls.  Very slowly the back of her small car lifted. Marie did not ask questions—she gassed the car and somehow drove out of the ditch.  The boys cheered.

“Boys, look back and see what an angel looks like!” Marie cried in delight.
“Momma, we can’t see anything,” the oldest told her.
“Well, it’s enough that he is here for us,” Marie pointed out.
“Oh, Momma…” her skeptical daughter started, but Marie interrupted.
“Don’t say anything negative. Just sit there and observe.”

The boys continued to sing, as they traveled on.  Marie was still praying.  “Lord, I hate to bother you, but there’s a cement road coming up. It goes over a creek, and the embankment is red clay.  It drops off on each side, and I’m a little worried….” Fear gripped her for a moment as they approached the trouble spot.  “Sing louder, boys!” she told them.

Taking a deep breath, Marie sped down the crossing, gunned the engine, shot up the embankment…and lost control of the car.  “We started to tip over the embankment,” she says, “and then I heard a gentle tap on the car, and it moved into the center of the road,” Marie says.  “It veered to another drop on the opposite side, and again it was tapped, and it straightened up.”

Again the boys cheered, and Marie gave thanks as she made it across.  She wondered how her non-believing daughter was handling this wonderful occurrence, but there would be time to talk about it all later.

In just a few minutes, the car pulled safely into the camp parking lot, and Marie sighed with relief and opened her door.  The mud, she noticed, had seeped all the way inside to her floorboards.  Well, mud was easily removed.  She got out, went around to the trunk and stopped in astonishment, as the children gathered around her.  “Mom, look!” one of the boys pointed in awe.  There on the back of the muddy car window was a large man’s handprint.

“God does indeed give us a hand in our daily lives,” Marie says, “and thank God for guardian angels.”

Know a Mom who needs to laugh? Check “Moms Go Where Angels Fear to Tread” on the website: http://joanwanderson.com

Copyright 2009 by Joan Wester Anderson. Published by Joan Wester Anderson, P.O. Box 127, Prospect Heights, IL 60070. For more stories of God’s love, check the blog at http://www.joanwanderson.com.