Hindrances to Full Faith (2)

And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Romans 4.19

Experience and faith
Many Christians fail to realize a powerful and transforming life of full faith because, well, their lives simply aren’t focused where they ought to be. Rather than longing for and striving to realize the precious and very great promises of God (2 Pet. 1.4), they’re too busy chasing the vain dreams and fleeting pleasures of their temporal lives.

We’ll never make progress in the life of full faith until we learn to fix our hopes, dreams, desires, and longings on, and organize our priorities and activities around, the promises God holds out to us in His Word. Losing our focus is the first of several hindrances to faith which can keep us from the life we’ve been redeemed to live.

The second hindrance to full and fruitful faith is languishing in our limitations. We’re frozen in what we think we know of ourselves, or our experience, or what we might be capable of in following the Lord.

What this means is that we don’t believe the Lord, and thus we don’t rise to the life He intends because we’re bogged down in what we consider to be the limitations of our experience and our faith. Every time you hear yourself saying, in the face of some command or promise of God’s Word, or some opportunity to serve in His Name, “Oh, I could never do that,” or “I’ve never done that before,” or any variation on either of those two, you have lost your focus, denied the power of God, and are languishing in your limitations.

Focused on the promises
Abraham might have done this. God had told him he would be the father of many nations, and for many, many years, Abraham believed God, focused on His promises, and lived as He taught.

But the years passed and still Abraham had no child. He was old and his wife had been barren all their married lives. Abraham might have looked at his circumstances and concluded, “Well, it’s a great idea, but it’s never going to work for me; I’m never going to have a child.”

He might have done that, if he had taken his eyes off the promises of God and Him Who made those promises.

Nothing about Abraham’s experience or capabilities indicated that he and Sarah could have a child. It hadn’t happened yet, and the circumstances essential for having a child had, we can imagine, deteriorated over time. If we focus on our circumstances, live according to our past experiences, and follow God on the basis of our own perceived strengths and abilities, we’ll never get beyond where we are in the life of faith.

Yet many Christians do not trust the Lord, for example, with their finances. They don’t tithe, and they give a portion of whatever’s left over once they’ve satisfied their wants, because they don’t believe they have enough for their own needs to give to the Lord what He requires.

Other believers hesitate to share their faith, because they don’t think people are interested in the Lord, or they’ve never shared their faith before.

They won’t volunteer to serve in their church because they don’t think they have what it takes, or they’ve already committed their available time to something they regard as more important or interesting.

Or they don’t take seriously the call to make disciples “as they are going” in life because, well, they’ve never done that before.

Slouching along?
If you live this way, if you choose to languish in your own limitations, you will never know the full faith of your father, Abraham.

What’s more, you’ll never experience the power of God’s Spirit, stretching and growing you beyond where you’ve ever dared to ask or think (Eph. 3.20). You’ll never know the joy of seeing the Word of God bear fruit in your life in new and transforming ways. And you’ll never make your contribution to the building of Christ’s Church or the progress of His Kingdom. You’ll just keep slouching along in the old baby clothes of your newborn years in the faith, always assuming that this is as good as it gets.

In the Christian life, however, it’s never as good as it gets. As we look to the promises of God, deny the limitations of our experience and our flesh, and trust in the Lord to lead us in new paths with the eternal and mysterious power of His Spirit, we can overcome this hindrance to full faith and grow to new heights of Christian joy, fulfillment, and ministry.

Don’t languish in your limitations! Trust God to make you more than what you’ve ever been before.

For reflection
1.      Meditate on Ephesians 3.20. What are some things you know Christians do or have done, but that you’ve never been willing to think for yourself or ask the Lord to let you do?

2.      Do you think God knows better than you what you might be capable of doing in living for and serving Him? Explain.

3.      Meditate on Philippians 2.12, 13. Explain “work out” and “at work in you” as these relate to you.

Next steps: Begin praying Ephesians 3.20 daily, asking God, as you pray, to help you being to “think” and “ask” more in line with His promises and full faith expectations.

T. M. Moore

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This week’s ReVision study is Part 6 of a 10-part series, “Full Faith.” You can download “Hindrances to Full Faith” as a free PDF, prepared for personal or group study. Simply click here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.