I remember a time when I was at UCSB. I woke up with a sore throat. One of the worst sore throats, if not the worst, I have ever had. I tried eating cereal but it hurt so bad that I was only able to eat a couple of spoonfuls. I decided to go buy soup instead. Still hurt like a mother. I decided to pray for healing over myself. At first it didn’t feel like there was much of a difference, but then I decided that I was over the BS. I told God that I refused to believe that he wasn’t going to heal me, that He was too good to not heal me. After about a few minutes of prayer I left the building and I tried eating the soup again, and lo and behold I was healed.
Faith is tenacious by nature. It refuses to believe any lie that may come against the truth of the goodness of God. It refuses to believe that our Father, a good Father, THE BEST FATHER, will not keep his words and fulfill His promises. If He said that by His stripes we were healed, than by God I am most definitely healed. I will not allow my circumstances to determine what I believe about God, but we must allow our faith to determine our circumstances.
Let’s think about some of the ancients in the scriptures. Jacob is a prime example. He met the angel of the Lord and wrestled with Him until he received his blessing, even if it was at the expense his hip (a sign of the flesh). He refused to leave God alone until He gave him his blessing, knowing that He was the only one that could change his circumstances when everything around seemed to be going to shit. What did he get? A new identity, the name Israel, meaning “Prince of God,” or, “A man who has seen God.” He was forever branded by this act, taking on the name of God unto himself. Once a supplanter, now a prince. How? By faith. Because he refused to believe less of God than He had known Him to be.
Or let’s take Elisha for example. Homeboy followed Elijah forever, even though he had told him to leave him alone. Even when the other prophets told him that Elijah was to be taken up to heaven, he refused to leave him be. He wanted the blessing, the double portion. He was tenacious, and he was willing to go against what seemed to be wisdom to others to get his reward. Because of this Elijah blessed him with a double portion of his spirit.
Let’s move on to the Syrophoenician woman. She comes up to Jesus asking Him to heal her daughter who was severely demonized. What did He do? He completely blew her off! But homegirl wasn’t discouraged, her mind was made up, her daughter was going to get healed! She goes up to him again and He tells her, “why should I take the children’s food and give it to the dogs,” to which she responded, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.” She was humble, but she was persistent, she was tenacious, and because she refused to believe that Jesus wouldn’t heal her daughter, she was able to tap into the promise of a covenant that she wasn’t even a part of, thus receiving deliverance for her daughter.
You see, faith doesn’t play games. It is completely convinced, completely assured of the goodness of God. That is how I will live, how I will operate, out of complete assurance of God’s goodness over my life, and over that of others. I will be one, “of whom the world was not worthy of,” for, “anything not done in faith is sin,” and that is not a part of who I am.
I’ll end with this… it’s a quote that a good friend deposited in my inner being today.
“Faith is the roaring lion within.”
-HS
Much Love and Blessings!
Israel’s Writings 