When faith becomes dead...

"6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." - James 1:6-9

The things that do not come from God He hates. Sin doesn't come from Him, that's why He hates it. And doubt is among the 'ungodly' things; hence, God considers it loathing.

Doubt is created by the enemy to hurt God's feelings; to insult His greatness, His capabilities, His very most being; to form unbelief among God's children; and most especially, to nurture this unbelief until nothing seems possible anymore.

Doubting is God's enemy. When we doubt that something is never gonna happen because we think that it is impossible, we start battling against God. Now, battling for God is in favor of His kingdom and glory. Battling with God (fighting difficulties with the help of God) is another good thing. It's getting hand-in-hand with the Almighty, combating against the lies of the enemy. But fighting God is a totally different story. Doubting is a battle, not for God, never with God, but against God--the very same Almighty One who created the universe. Without a doubt, when we start competing with the Greatest, we just start digging our own pits which will lead us to our own death; not the physical death of taking our last breath, but the death of the most important--of life and of the spirit.

Doubting is a big entry point of the enemy, the very same reason why he got it invented, to pull us away from the Lord and our destiny, to destroy our faith and to make us doubt about the good things, leading to uncertainty of God’s existence. We might not get aware of it, but once we let the devil give our minds a jab like “My dreams will never ever come to pass,” “I am not good enough,” “I will never ever get through with these debts,” “I always end up with the wrong guy,” and so on, we are also permitting him to deceive us to his number one purpose—“There is no God.” The need of guarding our hearts goes with equal substance of the need to guard our thoughts. Our minds are the enemy’s playground. Let’s not allow him to enter and play dirty stuff.

The Lord does not need our half-portioned faith—sometimes we trust, sometimes we doubt. For him, it is dead; in the same way that faith without deeds is lifeless. (James 2:26)

We believe that God is limitless, that He is so powerful that He can turn our lives upside down in a single snap. Truly, He is so. But we often forget that the Lord is also fair and just and wise. He cannot make the lazy successful in just one blink of an eye, or put a million in a prodigal’s ATM card right after he prayed with 101% faith that God will do it. Even if we pray hard that the Lord will give the desires of our hearts while we still embrace the same horrible lifestyle, God will never ever work the way we think [and hope] He will. That’s why faith, deeds and confidence shall work together.

Some may defend, “But the Bible says, ‘Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)', so we can always hope for the best and we will see it.” Again, faith without deeds is dead. It might lead us to hoping for the great things, but it will never lead us to their fulfillment.

When I was broke and got nothing left in my pocket, I prayed hard and asked God for a miracle of Him sending even a thousand-peso bill to my empty bank account. My faith was really up high that if I might measure it, it could even reach the plane I saw at the moment. Nervous and excited, I was thinking of my food cravings I would be able to buy as I was walking down the nearest ATM from my place. I inserted my card and promptly proceeded to ‘withdrawal’ instead to the balance-inquiry tab first. I told myself, “Now this is faith!” While the machine was processing my request, my heart jumped, and got more and more excited and hopeful of the prayer I asked faithfully from God. But the hope ended up with “Sorry, you have insufficient balance.” I ended up laughing about my act and going home still broke, without assessing what the situation was trying to tell me… until a long-time snoozing dream came back to life: I will buy my family a brand-new house.

Photo not mine. When we ask and believe but we don't work,
our prayer is heard, but is on queue, until we act on it. -Amber

Still, with an empty savings account, I prayed hard and even fasted that God will send me a miracle. I did not even have an idea of how He was gonna do it, but I just trusted that He will. Then on a Saturday, I went house tripping with full of hope that the broker would give me very flexible payment terms that my monthly salary could afford to pay. For the longest years of working, I did not bother save for this dream. I, most of the time, even put my luxuries on top of my priorities before my family’s needs. But then again, I felt confident that I would be able to buy that house. And we will move in very soon enough. Yet for the second time, I got home laughing about my act. That time again, I understood what the Lord was trying to tell me. Then I read this verse, “In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:17)”

I realized, if only I worked so hard, be it in my workplace, a part-time job or at the church, I will not be in that kind of situation. God knows how to pay a hard work. If only a long time ago I worked hard for my dreams; hated being a lazy happy-go-lucky; and started sowing in the Kingdom of the Lord by giving what is meant to be His, I could have had my own house even years back. And my miracle could have arrived earlier than expected. But for a long time, I chose my selfish pleasures over my own personal goals and my family’s visions.

We cannot ask God to just pour out blessings to our lives while we don’t help ourselves and neglect our responsibilities in our workplace and in His church. Faith becomes so alive when we work for the things we faithfully ask for in prayers.

Keep the faith alive and burning, and the doubt dead! Today is the start of sowing. And reaping will be very very soon. ♥