I have been receiving that gentle nudge of the Spirit of God to share some thoughts about unbelief. Why unbelief? Because unbelief is the great enemy or resistor of faith [Mark 6:5] and we are called to live by faith [Romans 1:17] and please God by faith [Hebrews 11:6]. I want to live by faith, I want to please God with my faith, and I am sure that is your heart as well. However, though the bible says we have each received the measure of faith [Romans 12:3], yet we often struggle to walk in faith. One of the major reasons for this struggle we can attribute to that enemy of faith – unbelief.
In Mark 6:5, Jesus had gone to His hometown and preached the Word, but it was not received. Jesus could not do mighty works there because of their unbelief. What did they not believe? They did not believe His Word. They did not believe God. Can you believe that? Of course, we can, it’s in the bible ????. Many of us would say that if we saw Jesus in person, we would have no problem believing, and we would do whatever He says. But I assure you that we would have the same issue because we too do not always take Him at His Word. You cannot separate a man from his word, and you cannot separate God from His Word. We have His Words – in the Bible. Yes, today, like the people in Jesus’s hometown we too struggle for the same reason they struggled – UNBELIEF.
What is unbelief? This is the definition that the Holy Spirit ministered to my heart. Unbelief is patterns of behaviour that we have learnt and some of which was passed from generation to generation (very often considered to be generational curses). It is our responsibility to deconstruct these thinking patterns. To relate unbelief to this month’s newsletter picture – unbelief raises questions about the promise. E.g. how will it happen? The biggest question of unbelief is ‘how?’.
"Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him”. Mark 11:23 (NASB) [letters in bold are my emphasis].
This scripture shows us the reality of how unbelief works in our lives; that you can be in faith and yet have unbelief in your heart. Matthew 17: 14-21 is the account off a man who brings his son to Jesus for him to be healed because Jesus’ disciples could not heal him. From the scriptures we understand that the disciples had healed others before this time. Jesus said to the disciples that they could not heal this boy because they are ‘an unbelieving and perverse generation’. Jesus also said to them, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
The issue then is not the size of our faith but the unbelief in our heart that hinders our faith. Yes, we know that there is little faith and that there is great faith, the scriptures tell us so; we also agree that faith can and should grow as we stay and meditate in the Word of God. However, our little faith (a mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds in the world) can and should produce results if it is not hindered. Why? Because the size of the seed does not matter. What matters is the life in that seed. What life is in the seed of the Word? GOD’S LIFE.
The issue of faith vs unbelief is mainly about focus. What is your faith focused on? You or God? Hebrews 11:6 tells us that to walk in faith we must believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. It is important that we get this because the subject of faith is God; not the lack of money, not the baby you don’t have etc. but God. We are called to have faith in God, the God behind the Word; the God behind the promise, not just the promise. Therefore, the cure for unbelief is to hear the Word. Faith that works, that gets results, is an unhindered view of God and His authority.
Unbelief will keep you focused on your life situation, but faith will cause you to look beyond your situation to focus on God and His authority; to understand that the results come from God and not your works (though faith will produce corresponding good works); and to see what God sees concerning you. Unbelief offers you another option from God’s word. It may be natural facts; it may be thoughts that are directly opposed to the Word or it may look like the word and yet has subtle differences (like the devil tempting Jesus or Eve in the garden). Therefore, you must immerse yourself in the Word so you can discern the truth.
How to overcome unbelief? Starve the lion (unbelief) and feed the puppy (faith) and soon the puppy will be whipping that lion. When you become single minded about God and His Word, your mustard seed faith will work unhindered and will bring you results. God is a reward, because every word has power in itself to produce and contains a reward. Faith is not what but Who you are looking at.
The key of faith – did God say it? Yes, then He is good for it. We then look to Him to do it. We do our part by keeping our focus on Him. He is able, He wants us blessed, He loves us unconditionally, and He sees us through the veil of Christ’s blood – we are righteous and have right standing with Him. Faith is a daily walk and looking at Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith.
Ministry friend let me end by saying this, faith results is not about having big faith but rather about having faith in a big God. This is why the prayer of faith always ends with thanksgiving.
Yours in His service,
Ayodola & the W2NM Team