The Relationship of Faith to Action

Hebrews 11:17-19

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; ¹⁸ it was he to whom it was said, "IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED." ¹⁹ He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.

I have two points that come to mind when I think of faith and action related to faith:

1. 1. Faith is required going into our actions. (i.e. I need faith in God to take action on what He would have me to do, like preaching, witnessing, making decisions)

2. 2. Faith is required following our actions. (i.e. I need faith in God that the action I have taken will accomplish His purposes in leading me to do that action—when I witness, what He has lead me to do will have an effect on the “witnessee”; when I preach in faith that God has a message for a group of people, I need faith following the preaching of that message that His word is at work and will continue to work on the hearts and minds of these people)

I say these two things because I find that all too often, I (and probably everybody else out there) have a problem with always approaching the actions of my life with faith, and when I do act in faith, I tend to not follow through with faith. I think it’s easier to do step one than step two, simply because once you’ve done the action, you can lean back, breathe a sigh of relief, and even bask in the glory of having done something in faith. I can even go to the extent that I begin taking the credit for something that required faith in God to step in to. Let me put this in a practical scenario: I’m praying a lot about my coming sermon, praying that I present truth accurately, praying that God would give me boldness and that things generally would go well on the part of presentation. I get up there, take that “plunge” as I begin speaking, and not a whole lot of time later, close that sermon. Then, perhaps, I begin waiting. Waiting for the praise of others, and deep down, hoping that I get it at least somewhat. Let me ask you this: what was the purpose of presenting truth clearly, accurately, boldly, even passionately, if at the end I find myself hoping not about people meeting God and their lives being changed by Him, but rather for them to say, “Hey, good job up there today?” That is so petty, so shallow. We need to preach in such a way and have such reverence for God and His word that when we finish what He has for us to preach, we simply sit down and watch God work. We need to pray that people really see God and they find that He has spoken to them, not just a preacher. The intention is that the congregation will not be able to recline back in their chairs, taking in religious words and getting their weekly dose of spirituality, but rather that they will be drawn to God, leaning forward in their seats even, hanging on every word and knowing that God is trying to speak to them and it’s alarmingly obvious. This has to be the process of all of our actions done in the name of God—we have to have faith going in that He wants to use us to declare what He has to say in that moment, and we have to faith that when we step away from the pulpit that God is going to work as He sees fit, accolades or not. So here’s my final summation of what I’ve said: don’t revel in your obedience; don’t get so caught up in yourself that you think you’re more than someone used by God, not using God for propelling your agendas. Life requires faith, there’s no other way around this basic truth for the believer. God never intended for us to do things in our own strength, and when we do, we find that the actual purposes of our spiritual endeavors were never for God to truly work nearly as much as simply making a name for ourselves within the Christian realm.