But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed about by the wind. James 1:6
Every day, we worry constantly about what we are going to eat, what we are going to do. We lose so much sleep it becomes normal for someone to say “I cannot sleep, I have something bothering me”. Yet countless people throughout the ages have acted in faith, going by belief and a hope that something will happen and not worrying about how God would make it happen.
The Bible has so many stories of individuals who were so completely planted in their faith that nothing could shake them.
Their faith enabled them to hold their heads high though they came from weak and at times, impoverished backgrounds. It enabled them to rise above their situations standing forever written in history. A look at just two Biblical women reveals how they exercised their faith
Hannah
Hannah suffered a great deal at the hands of her husband’s second wife Peninnah. 1 Samuel 1: 5-7 reflects how her inability to fall pregnant ensured she suffered verbal and emotional abuse at the hands of Peninnah, affecting her so badly that she could not eat at times! There were no miraculous births occurring at the hands of scientists such as In-vitro Fertilisation (IVF) in Hannah’s day. Faith was all Hannah had. She used her faith to approach God, her faith in God’s ability to relieve her distress was so absolute that she was ready to have the child live in God’s house permanently.
Rahab
Another woman, Rahab, revealed in herself so much faith in God despite her profession. A Canaanite prostitute, Rahab lived in Jericho during an interesting time in Biblical history. Stories preceded the Israelites of how God had rescued them from Egypt and subsequently given lands and peoples into their hands along the way so that by the time they got to Jericho, the entire city was quaking in fear. And Rahab’s position on the city totem pole was low.
Though she was looked down upon because of her profession, she had enough faith to believe that God would absolve her of her sins
Even now, prostitution is not a profession that is looked at as one to aspire to. Yet in spite of her profession, Rahab was clever and courageous enough to realise that Joshua and his men served a God far greater than any other and chose to protect them, putting faith in that they would stand for her when the time came (Joshua 2: 8-13). Though she was looked down upon because of her profession, she had enough faith to believe that God would absolve her of her sins and in so doing, found herself a place in a royal lineage by being the mother of Boaz (Matthew 1:5) who was part of the genealogy of Jesus.
These are just two women whose exercising of faith earned them far greater reward than we could ever hope to achieve. Yet we fear to put our faith in God and believe Him for our basic requirements.
How much greater the quality of our lives would be if we could do this one thing.
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