A South African preacher that I respect very much penned these words, and I don't think they could be any more pertinent to this day. From Angus Buchan's book, a Mustard Seed:
""Hebrews 11:8- and he went out, not knowing whither he went."
God reminded me again this morning in my quiet time that He always honors faith. But we need to wait on God to get a clear Word from Him, and then to operate in faith. When we walk in faith - the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen - it doesn't always make sense. Two and two, in God's economy, can often equal seven. We cannot understand how it is, but by faith we continue to walk the road that He has laid out before us.
Think of NASA, with the most brilliant mathematicians in the whole world. They will tell you categorically that it is mathematically impossible for the bumblebee to fly. His wings are too small and his torso is too big. Have you never seen a bumble bee fly? I've seen many. That's what faith is about. God honors faith.
I heard a beautiful saying the other day: Waiting on God brings us to the end of our journey much faster than our feet. To me, that means that those who wait on the Lord shall first of all renew their strength. But secondly, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17), which means that the more time you spend waiting on God, the more clearly you are going to hear direction from God. And then you're going to operate in faith, not presumption. There's a big difference between faith and presumption. Presumption is something that you think God's told you. Faith is something that you know God's told you. It's better to wait and then to take the direction God sends you.
That's exactly what Abraham did. That's why he was the friend of God. Not because he was a good man, but because he obeyed the Word of the Lord. Abraham heard from God, who told him to go to an unknown destination. Being a farmer myself, I can relate to Abraham. He left everything he had (he was an extremely wealthy man) and he went to a destination that he didn't even know existed. God went ahead of him and the rest of the story, as they say, is history. That's why you (if you are a Christian) and I have our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life, because Abraham is our father. God gave Abraham favor because he obeyed God - and He will do the same for you and me today if we choose to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
A man once said to me that faith is spelled R I S K. That's quite funny but actually the furthest from the truth. Faith is more secure than anything else in this world; more secure than the monetary system, or your health, and more secure than all your worldly wisdom and education, because God never makes mistakes.
That great preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the 'Prince of Preachers', said at the end of his life, "By attempting less, I hope to achieve more." What he meant was that by spending more time with God and operating in faith, he would achieve a lot more for the Lord than by just working with sweat, blood and tears and no faith.
Today, let us bring pleasure and joy to the heart of God by trusting Him and walking by faith, rather than listening to the lies of the devil and the worldly systems and getting ourselves into all kinds of financial difficulties and trouble, and ending up with fear, depression and stomach ulcers and blaming God. Let us start asking ourselves the question, "What would Jesus do?" And then do it. Get confirmation from God through the Bible and then move on by faith. "
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