(Below is an excerpt from Pastor’s book, “How to Find Life in Dead Situations”)
Only believe! Five times in this passage we find the words believe or believeth. The Word of God tells us over and over again of the power of belief. Fear not! Believe only! We believe God through faith. It all starts and it all finishes with faith. Everything we do that pleases God is by faith. Our salvation is by faith. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is by faith. God supplies our needs by faith. We pray in faith. In fact, if you cannot do it in faith, you are just wasting your time. You have a good marriage through faith, or you come to a better marriage through faith. Household salvation is by faith. It is all by faith.
You may be reading this right now saying, “Well, preacher, you have a lot going for you.” Let me tell you, I could take you back to times in my life when I did not have one, single, solitary thing going for me except my faith in God. When you find out that God is all you have left, you find out that God is all you need. Take everything, but let me hold on to faith in God. Let me hold onto believing God. Belief is the hand of faith that gets a grip on the promise of God and will not let go.
If you are living by the opinions of others or what the news media says, then you do not know what to believe. Every time you turn around there will be a different voice. Faith lays hold of the promises of God and gets such a grip that it will not let go. Eleazar in 2 Samuel 23:9-10 had such a grip on the sword that when the battle was over, his hand could not be pried from the sword. Notice, the man had a strong grip, not a casual grip. Until the battle was over, there was a grip that defied imagination. No matter what comes, what voice says this or that, let the belief of our heart reach out and lay hold of the promises of God. Believe that God is bigger than every dead circumstance and big enough to see us through. Only believe!
It all starts and finishes with faith. Jesus said in verse 15, “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe.” There is some strong meat here. Jesus said, “I am glad . . . that I was not there.” The first thing I want to do when a friend is in trouble is to be there. I want to be there in tragedy. I want to be there in a time of loss. If it is possible, I would like to stay there, but Jesus said, “I am glad . . . that I was not there…” He was glad so that they would use their faith. Sometimes, we get all wrapped up in our emotions and we forget to use our faith. Faith is the best friend you will ever have. Your earthly best friend may have had an off-day and talk you out of your faith. When faith is your friend, get a lock on God’s promise and you will come through difficult circumstances on the high side of victory.
Some of the strongest faith people I have ever met in my life are in the pews of the church; they are not necessarily on the platform or on television. Some of these people are up in years and I hear the faith that comes out of their heart. They are unheralded giants of faith, and you like them, need to hold onto your faith when you have nothing else to hold onto. When you cannot see, your eyes must look beyond your dead situation and you must begin to see as God sees. Hold on to that – it is so precious. It will bring you through.