mind2soul

 

 

 

 

Faith is not blindly believing. In my opinion, faith is intelligent. Faith thinks. There is a danger when people have a blind sort of faith. Fanatic people give faith a  bad name!

Gideon is an example of someone with an intelligent faith. In the Book of Judges chapter 6 and verse 11 says:

11 Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” 
13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord,^[a] if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” 
14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” 

He understood that when God is with someone, it must show. A fanatic person in Gideon’s shoes would bow down before the angel and say glory, alleluia, praise the Lord, and so forth and so on… But instead, Gideon showed a revolt which God called his might (strength). A fanatic person reads Psalm 23 and yells “Praise the Lord” even if he lacks it all. However, intelligent faith will ask: “If the Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not have lack, why then do I lack everything? You know Lord, if this is true then I reject misery from my life!”

Not that we must be materialist, but use faith with intelligence. A pastor once asked his congregation during the Sunday service who was feeling Gods presence there and there. The whole congregation of around 7 thousand people raised their hands, affirming to be feeling Gods presence. The pastor then replied, “I don’t feel a thing!”. People were shocked with the pastor’s declaration. Then he continued, “Yet I’m 100% sure that He is present among us. Not because what I feel or don’t feel, but because it’s written that when two or more gather in His name, He will be there with then.”

According to the Bible, faith is the assurance of the unseen. Some people feel great during a church service, only to get home and feel depressed again. Others know the words of the Bible as the back of their hands and yet, when trouble comes, they panic. Where’s faith then? What’s your faith made of?

Emotions? Knowledge? Or a firm assurance even in the darkest moment?

thinkFORyourself!