Four Enemies of Faith

It is impossible to please God without faith. Hebrews 11:6 NLT

Here are four enemies of faith:

Enemy #1 “Not me”
There used to be a prayer of the uncommitted that said, “Here I am Lord, send my brother.” When you say “not me” you place the focus upon yourself, your limitations, and weaknesses. However, faith says, “God can.” Gideon told God, “I can’t” but God told Gideon, "(You can) because I have sent you and I will be with you."

Enemy #2 “Not now”
When you say to God, “Yes, use me.” that does not mean that your obedience of faith is complete. You must, by faith, add this commitment to our prayer, “Yes, Lord, use me in your time.” God wants to use you in His appointed time, not yours. You cannot live a life of faith and put things off for another day when God tells you to do it now, and you do not want to become frustrated and anxious if tells you to wait.

Enemy #3 “Not here”
Sometimes we think we can serve God better and more effectively if we were somewhere else and with other people. We can think, “I will serve You Lord when You send me to the mission field; I will let my life be a witness for You when I am with strangers, but not when I am with my family and friends here at home.” God wants you to trust Him to work through you in the place He has put you.

Enemy #4 “Not that way”
Faith cannot lean upon the arm of the flesh, but must lean upon the arm of the Lord. Often, our flesh wants to take over or be in control when responding to what God asks of us. God’s ways are not our ways. Our faith must respond to what God wants us to do and how He wants us to do it, even if that way may seem inconvenient or take us out of our comfort zone.

Let your obedience be complete by responding to God with the “Yes” of faith— allowing Him to use you, to use you now, to use you where you are, and to use you in the way He chooses.

Note: This theme originated, not with me, but with the following two quotes…The first quote is by A.W. Tozer, and the second by E. Stanley Jones.

“Unbelief says: Some other time, but not now; some other place, but not here; some other people, but not us. Faith says: Anything He did anywhere else He will do here; anything He did any other time He is willing to do now; anything He ever did for other people He is willing to do for us!” -A.W. Tozer, The Tozer Pulpit, Volume One

“ A minister took the first step to victory when he arose and said in a meeting: “‘I can’t’ and ‘tomorrow’ are the twin evils of my life, crippling me and my ministry. ‘I can’t do things,’ or ‘I can’t do them today’—these are the paralyzing hands laid on me.” He was on his way to victory in the honest segregation of these enemies and in the recognizing of them as such.” –E. Stanley Jones, Abundant Living

©2018 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. All rights reserved.