By Knowledge or by Faith…How Do You Explain It? (Part 2).

We often lose hope over situations, probably because things do not seem to go the way we planned or anticipated it should, or rather because we made the wrong decisions. Its easy to blame ourselves over what ought to have happened, forgetting that, there are many things beyond our capacity to control because God had ordained them to happen in a certain way. In those circumstances, it only takes the eyes of faith to see a silver line in the cloud.

“Faith is the foundation of our hopes, our beliefs and our conviction. “It is confidence in what we hope for, and assurance about what we cannot see” (Heb 11:1). Faith doesn’t need to Understand-It believes and is persuaded beyond all doubt and uncertainty.” (Apiseh Ngesang).

Early this year, I was in a serious dilemma. I was stuck in making a decision of what to do next with my life. I heard tones of advices from people about what in their most sincere opinion could be the best option for me. There were times when It seemed like God was not close. I wondered if it was rational to believe scripture that says “everything works together for good for those who love God.” (Rom 8:28). I knew that because I serve God, everything should be milk and honey. I decided to fast and pray, seeking God’s direction for my life. During this time, the Holy Spirit laid upon my heart to apply for certain academic programs, which I did. However, many doubts stepped in when I applied to those school programs but was rejected by a good number of them, despite all the confidence that I was well qualified. Another very enticing offer came but it required that I spend some money before I could finally get enrolled by a specific deadline. In the process of asking God for direction, a word came to me from a book by Kenneth Hagin I was reading coincidentally at that time. “How to be led by the Spirit of God”. He said “You don’t have to be in a big hurry about some things. The devil will try to push you. He will say hurry up, hurry up. He will try to move you out of faith and move you into doubt, move you into unbelief and get you away from the leading of God.”

“…he that believeth shall not make haste” (Isaiah 28:16).

After reading these words, I had some hope but I wasn’t so sure. However, this is when faith stepped in. Any person of sound knowledge will know that it was very logical to take the more enticing offer or better still, just secure my place while waiting for the next option to show up. But no. even with some unbelief, I always told God in my prayers that I will not waste money in the process of hastening his plans for me and due to my confidence, what I expected happened, though not as I expected it. This therefore thought me a few truths about walking by faith, not by knowledge.

1.)Faith is leaving out all other options and holding unto God as the only option:

If I was to walk by my own knowledge and understanding, I should have incurred unnecessary expenses, trying to achieve God’s plan for my life, rather than allowing Him do what only He alone can do. After hearing from God or when the Holy spirit drops a word of knowledge in your mind, it takes faith to see it come to fulfilment. Never try to force your way to have the things that have been said.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and rely not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and He will make your path straight.” Prov. 3:5-6.

2.)Faith is what commits God to act in your favour:

After you have prayed and stayed obedient to the word of God, helping others and believing him for a particular thing, He has no option than to act in line with what you are trusting him for. It may not come the way you want it but God always modifies it to suit His plan for you in the best possible way and it also takes faith to see that the turn in events is just the way God planned it.

“God is not unjust, he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” Heb 6:10.

3.)Faith is the ability to stand alone with God and win:

Even when everyone sees your action as unreasonable, callous or delusional, stand firm on what you believe and what you know you have received. You may feel that deep, sincere inward conviction to take a certain path or go in a certain direction but everyone else tells you its not worth it. However, every time you think about this venture, you have so much peace within. As a child of God, one of the strongest ways the spirit leads you is by placing a huge conviction upon your heart, or a heavy burden that can’t just go away no matter how hard you try to fight it. So in this situation, pray hard, stand firm, believing that God who placed this upon your heart will make you win and it works. One thing you should always remember is that God loves you too much to allow you make a mistake. Where you are now is not by chance but he put you there to achieve something great.