Living by Faith
Recently, I came across a very interesting article about the perils of unrest and worry, written by Sigurd Rudolf Guldbrandsen Bratlie. This Norwegian missionary clearly had first-hand experience with the subject. He traveled widely as a missionary and drew international media attention when in 1978, he was imprisoned for 143 days for holding Christian meetings in Baghdad, Iraq. The following excerpt was taken from an article he wrote for the Norweigian Christian Journel, Skjulte Skatter. This statement gave me pause for serious introspection:
"All unrest, complaining, sighing, and anxiety stems from the soulish (fleshly) man who fights for his life. The spiritual man lives by faith in God’s Word. All things serve him for good. He has a mind for laying down his life, and he rests in God. What a glorious life and peace this is – a kingdom that cannot be moved.”
The Apostle Paul provided a shining example of a spiritual man who believed that all things served him for good. Although he had every reason to complain, worry, and fret, he conveyed this message:
“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews [39] lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods; one I was pelted with stones. Three times I was shipwrecked, and I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. Paul grasped the truth that for all that he suffered it was not his own strength that carried him; it was the strength of God who sustained him.
Paul admitted that he had been a very prideful man, which had required God’s intervention:
“…to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ “Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-11).
Paul’s statement that his weakness gave him strength may sound counterintuitive, but I have discovered that whatever struggles I may be experiencing, whether big or small, those are the times when I seek God with even greater fervor, and He never disappoints me. For truly, both struggles and successes present new opportunities to learn and to build a strengthened faith and deeper relationship with God.
Paul expressed his complete dependence on God, who was his sustainer and deliverer. He lived out the words of John the Baptist, who said, “[Christ] must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). In other words, both Paul and John wanted the focus to be on Jesus Christ and not on them. Therefore, all that we do should point to the cross and not to us.
The Apostle John stated, “By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16). He was not suggesting that we physically die for the cause of Christ. He was asking us to die to self and to surrender our will, which if not submitted to God, can quickly morph into earthly mindedness. Conversely, the heavenly minded yield their will to God. At that level of surrender and unreserved trust, faith develops, yielding a peaceful assurance of God’s goodness that settles deep within the soul.
As humans who inhabit earthly bodies, we are vulnerable to worldliness on a daily basis; therefore, if we are not careful, we could quickly slip into the trap of becoming earthly-minded instead of heavenly-minded. That is why we are encouraged to pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17).
Bratlie’s comment was my wake-up call to be that much more intentional in walking by faith. For there is always great temptation to trust in what we see and feel, thus making us more vulnerable to fear, worry, unrest, doubt, and unbelief. Those things not only impede faith, they have the power to destroy faith. If Paul had allowed his flesh to be governed by his feelings, he would have failed in overcoming the hardships that he suffered. The end result would have been a missed opportunity to reach multitudes and complete God’s assignment on earth.
God has given every Christian an assignment that is very specific to their talents and giftings. My prayer is to stay the course and complete my assignment. My goal is to be more heavenly minded and unwavering in my faith when challenged by circumstances. And I choose to give thanks in all things, because God promises us that all things will work together for good because we are His and have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
PRAYER: FATHER, forgive me for those times of complaining and remind me to praise You in all situations. May I always trust You and not the circumstances. Correct me when I begin to lean towards soulishness. Reveal those things that could potentially hinder my faith, and set my feet on a sure path that leads others to the cross. In Jesus’ name, amen.