Exercise Your Faith. Go for It!

The bible is clear that ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’, and by exercising their faith the elders obtained a good report with God (Hebrews 11:1-2). In other words, faith reaches forward and takes hold of that which Christ has provided for us, so that it becomes a reality in our life, despite what circumstances might look like. Hebrews, Chapter 11, then proceeds to catalogue how this became a fact in the lives of many men and women, detailed in Scripture, who dared to put this into practice. The woman with the issue of blood discovered this when she reached forward and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, as He was on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:43-48). The fact that someone else had Jesus’ attention in that moment was not a deterrent to her. For this woman it was now or never. She had spent all her money on doctors, but nothing worked, so Jesus was her last and desperate hope.

Such was the urgency of her need that she came up behind Him in the crowd and lurched forward, took advantage of her window of opportunity, and extracted her healing with a touch. Jesus knew straight away that someone had operated their faith, for it stopped Him in His tracks, and He immediately asked, “Who touched me?”. The disciples couldn’t understand His question, because of the crowd, but Jesus knew that virtue had gone out of Him and was keen for her to publicly testify to what had happened (Luke 8:46).

In a moment she received her healing. Faith transcends the natural realm. It operates in the spiritual realm and moves the hand of God to turn the impossible into the possible. Whatever it is that you need from God today, you can trust Him to do it. Depending on the situation, sometimes He will grant your request immediately, or He may require you to keep trusting Him for a little longer. If the present answer is no, then you will ultimately find it is because God has something better in mind for you than you originally planned. Either way, you will discover the truth of what the angel said to Mary that ‘with God nothing shall be impossible’ (Luke 1:37). The evidence of Scripture is that God is pleased with those who exercise their faith in His Word. So, don’t be afraid. Go for it! Take courage! You will find that He is faithful to that which He has promised.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for Your Word which enables me to move forward and activate the faith You have given me. When a leap of faith is required, help me to take it in the strength of the Spirit of the Lord, to the glory and honour of Your Name. In Jesus’ name, Amen.