I've lost my "faith in God"

Sabrina was attending Sunday school and every child that day was receiving a plaque with the words, "Have Faith In God" as the motto. Sabrina boarded the Sunday school bus that would take her home and realized that she did not have her plaque. She frantically jumped from her seat, and ran screaming to the driver, "Stop the bus! I've lost my 'Faith in God.'"

Some say that faith is the gift of God. So is the air, but you have to breathe it. So is bread, but you have to eat it. Some are wanting a miraculous feeling - goose-bumps - but that is not faith!

Roman's 10:17 declares, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." We cannot sit and wait for faith to come over us like an emotional sensation. Faith is taking God at His Word!

George Muller said, "Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends."

Andrew Murray observed, "We have a God who delights in impossibilities."

F. B. Meyer proclaimed, "You do not test the resources of God until you try the impossible."

We must possess "NOW Faith." Hebrews 11:1 says, "NOW faith is..." We cannot live in yesterday's. I thank God for the victories of the yesterday. I praise Him for His grace to face the hard times. But I cannot have a "good-old-days" mentality. Neither can I have the "when and then" mentality. I do look forward to what God has in store for tomorrow, but I cannot live there. True faith is NOW faith! The reason Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus was NOT because His friend had died. He wept because no one expressed NOW faith. Everyone was either saying "If you HAD been here" or "On that day" referring to the resurrection of the dead when Christ appears the second time. Jesus said plainly to them all, "I AM the resurrection and the life." He made it clear that it was present tense!

Now, some of you are thinking, OK Pastor, that's all great. You've got it together. You've been to Bible College. You have the red telephone in your office that's a direct hotline to God. You're a preacher. And what about the bad stuff that happens. What if someone has faith but it still don't work out?

Well, some of that is true - not about the red phone though - so to answer the question, we must also have "But if not faith." See Daniel 3:18. Here's the scoop on the story - The 3 Hebrew boys will not bow down to the idol that Nebuchadnezzar has built. He's infuriated and demands to know why. He even says that he'll give them another chance. They answer him saying that they don't need a second chance, and that their God - Jehovah - will deliver from the fiery furnace and from the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. Then they say something that seems strange and contradictory. In verse 18, they say, "But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image you have set up." What these 3 Hebrew boys were saying was that EVEN IF God didn't deliver them, they still weren't going to bow down before an idol. They realized that if they bowed they would burn in eternity, and if they didn't bow they would burn temporarily. They made their choice and declared their allegiance to the One True God!

"But if not faith" means that I serve God regardless of the outcome! If you read Hebrews 11, you will find that a lot of the heroes of the Bible could testify of great victories, but as you read through Hebrews, you will also notice that a lot of other heroes were "sawn asunder, burned, etc." However the key is found in the words, "These ALL obtained a good report through faith."

Here's my encouragement to you today - live by faith. Expect great things from God. Remember that He's Sovereign. Notice the word "Reign" in the word sovereign. God reigns supreme. Jesus was telling Peter that he would be a martyr for him. Peter pointed to John and wanted to know about John's demise. Jesus responded, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me." WOW! Jesus said it pretty plain. In our lingo today, it might have come out like this, "It's really none of your business Peter how I decide who dies naturally and who dies as a martyr. Just follow me."

If the bus is pulling away, and you don't have your plaque, stand up and scream, "Stop the bus; I've lost my faith in God." Just like Visa's old ad said, "Don't leave home without it."