Live By Faith

LOOK AT THE PROUD! THEIR SPIRIT IS NOT RIGHT IN THEM, BUT THE RIGHTEOUS LIVE BY THEIR FAITH. Habakkuk 2.4.

I do not know how anyone can live today without faith in God! You only have to read the newspapers and see the TV news and you will know that our lives are in danger and our situation unpredictable. A dear friend of mine called me up as I was having dinner with the family and said, "My father feels ill and is vomiting blood!" I told him to take his father straight to the hospital emergency! Sickness, accident, injury and death, attacks from robbers and criminals, rape and even murder are becoming commonplace in most countries. Our financial situation is also vulnerable. Retrenchment, business failures and losses, bad debts and bankruptcy, all are taking a toll on our minds and body. All the affairs of our life and even life itself are not in our hands. Then, who else holds them?

The apostle Paul said, “In God we live and move and have our being';… For we too are his offspring” (Act 17.28). Only those who are humble enough to live by faith in God can say that. They are the ones who make every effort through the Holy Spirit to live right lives. They are the ones acceptable to God. They are the ones who not only live for themselves but care for others too!

You cannot handle all the adverse situations in your everyday life because they are often beyond you. When you are faced with impossibilities, what do you do? Where will you go to? Who is there to help you? Friends can help us only so much!

How often I have come across people with genuine needs, like sickness, lost jobs, no money to sustain the family, financial crisis, bad debts and many more. They seek our prayers and sometimes help too! On many occasions I have wished I could pray and also help out! It was just the other day, I shared with my wife, “If only I had the power and the money to help everyone in all situations and tell them, ‘Don’t worry we make all things right!”

No! No man can help! They cannot help themselves. But God can help you! The righteous know it. They humble themselves and put their trust in God! They learn to live by faith! God accepts them. As for the proud, they trust in themselves. They boast that they can do anything they want to. But it turns out to be only words with no effect. When everything goes well, they are happy and proudly boast of it. But when troubles come, they are left helpless. They crumble and even commit suicide. Worse still, God will be against them for their pride! Sometimes God uses such circumstances to draw them to Himself! Praise the Lord!

Dear believer, the righteous live by faith in God and do not trust in their own strength or wealth. Humbly seek God in your distress. God hears your call and will answer you (Jer 33.3). He keeps His promise, “I will never leave you nor forsake you… So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone or anything do to me?” (Heb 13.5,6).

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to live day by day by my faith in You alone and not in myself or anyone else! Let not the situations of life shake my trust in You. Amen.