Living by Faith

I grew up in a family with a modest income. Early on as a child I learned what it was like to live by faith. I watched as God supplied our needs daily. When we needed a car, someone gave us one. When we needed food, someone brought us food. When we needed money to pay the bills, someone gave money. Each time a need presented itself, God spoke to someone to provide for it. I know there was a lot more that was provided for than I ever saw, but what I did see, showed me that God was our provider.

Now, as an adult, I can appreciate more what God did for us through others. I understand the stress that living by faith can bring. I also understand the depth of faith you get when you solely rely on God. Growing up, I would pray that God would someday allow me to be on the giving end to where I could help provide for others in need. God has definitely answered that prayer and continues to answer it.

Somewhere along the way, my mind started equating being poor with living by faith. I’ve learned that when you don’t have much, you have a greater opportunity to live by faith. When all you have is a prayer, you don’t have a choice except to trust God. That doesn’t mean that when God blesses us monetarily we can’t live by faith though. It just becomes more difficult to. We begin to trust in our abilities and in the blessing rather than the Provider.

In Mark 10:17-27, there is a story of a man who approaches Jesus and asks what he needs to do to get to Heaven. Jesus lists off the Ten Commandments and the guy’s face lights up. “I’ve done that ever since I was a kid”, he replied. Jesus said, “But there is one thing you haven’t done. Go sell everything you have, give it to the poor and come follow me.” The man’s countenance fell as he walked away unwilling to commit to that.

That young man was trusting in his possessions rather than the One who provided them to him. I believe if he had truly been living by faith, he wouldn’t have had a problem giving them up. It comes down to perspective. Do you believe that what you have is yours or God’s? Did your hard work pay for what you have or did God use your job to provide for you and you purchased those things with His money? I was always taught that what I own is not mine. It is God’s. I am merely a steward over what He has given me.

When you learn to see things this way, God will allow you to be on the blessing end of living by faith. In order for the poor who are living by faith to have their needs met, there needs to be people who have more than enough to live by faith. While God can and has used the wealth of the wicked to be laid up for the righteous, why should we pass up the blessing of giving and allow others to take care of those in need? No matter where we fall on the scale of living by faith, one principle remains: Give and it shall be given to you, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over and poured into your lap.