Early in the book of Genesis we read how, when God first approached Noah about building the ark, no one had ever heard of the concept of rain. No one knew drops of water could fall from the sky because it had never rained before. Up to that point, an underground sprinkler system of sorts—dew—had been used to water the earth. Yet, here was God talking to Noah about rain, floods and building a big boat.
Well, Noah had a choice to make, Do I believe God and build this monstrosity called an ark, or don’t I? It was a far out plan to Noah’s natural understanding, but God knew exactly what He was doing. Noah chose to believe God. Once Noah made his decision, it took a long time to build that ark. After all, he only had his family to help him build it. Everyone else thought he was crazy. “Crazy old Noah—building a floating house with no water to put it in.” Don’t you know during the construction phase of that ark, Noah had plenty of opportunities to change his mind and back out of this foolish-looking project of his.
Nonetheless, he continued in faith. When God said—“Everything that is on the land shall die. But I will establish my covenant (promise, pledge) with you” (Genesis 6:17-18, The Amplified Bible)—Noah believed Him. We find out that not only did Noah obey God by building the ark, he also obeyed by preaching to the unrighteous people while he and his family hammered and sawed. He preached what God told him to preach. The Bible says Noah was a preacher of righteousness. I have no doubt the people said he was a faith preacher!
Our faith is like opening a window to God. Remember, God is no dictator. He never forces His way into our lives like the devil does. He never tries to deceive us. When God laid out His promises, He made them plain and simple. Then He gave us a choice. Certainly, you and I don’t have to believe what God says. But if we want to live healed, prosperous, blessed in every way, then we will have to believe what He says. That is faith! Ps 35:27 says God “takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant,” but that doesn’t mean we have to walk in prosperity. If we want to, we can live in the natural realm and refuse supernatural increase. God won’t force it on us.
Like God, faith is no respecter of persons. Anyone can have faith. In fact, Romans 12:3 tells us that God “hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (speaking to born-again people). Consequently, any believer can develop faith. Faith will always come when God’s Word is heard and received. There are approximately 6,000 promises from God recorded in the Bible, and each one was carefully written down for us. If we believe what we hear, say and read in the Bible, and we let it get deep in our hearts, soon faith will rise up within us and see to it that everything we hear, say and read comes to pass.
If God promises He will do something, He will do it. He is more dependable than anyone you know. There are 6,000 promises recorded in the Bible and they’ve already been established as reality for us. We read in II Corinthians 1:20 that “all the promises of God in [Jesus] are yea, and in [Jesus] Amen.” So, if you need healing, it’s done. If you need food, it’s done. If you need protection, it’s done. If you need a house, or a job, it’s done. You and I don’t have to try and talk God into any of these things—they’re already done! God promised them to us, then He ratified His promise through the blood of Jesus, the sacrifice of His own Son.
What is our responsibility, then? As we saw earlier, we must give God a window – we must give Him an opening into our lives by faith—and not just when we get born again, but every moment of every day! You and I must keep the promises of God—His precious Word—before us at all times…reading them, speaking them, listening to them. So commit to God’s Word and I guarantee you that faith won’t just come some of the time or, maybe, most of the time. No, faith will come all the time! It will come every time that you believe it enough to receive it in your heart to abide. And when it comes, so will the fulfillment of God’s promises in your life.
