A friend of mine asked the manager of a supermarket if he had ever cashed a bad check for a stranger. “No, I never did,” he said, “because I never look at the check—I look at the man. If I can trust the man, I take his check.” What a lesson in faith!
In Hebrews 10:23 we find these words: “He who promised is faithful.” Who makes the promises in God’s Word?—God does. Look at the Maker of the promises, and then there can be no question as to their absolute validity. God’s Word says, “Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you.”1
To know God is to be sure that He keeps every promise He has made. Abraham knew God and “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith … being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.”2
Some people think of faith as something very mysterious and far beyond their reach. Others think of faith as a gift assigned at birth—some have it to a great degree, while others don’t. Both of those are misconceptions.
God has dealt to each person a measure of faith,3 but many people don’t use their faith. If you don’t use your faith, it becomes flabby, just like muscles when you don’t use them. For faith to grow, you’ve got to keep exercising it.
Faith operates in an entirely different realm from our five senses, but some of the same principles apply. Faith conveys to us evidence of spiritual truths, just as our five senses convey evidence of physical things. Just as we accept what our five senses tell us, we must accept as evidence what our faith tells us. When we do, our faith brings that thing to pass and makes it real. “As you have believed, so let it be done for you.”4
Take God at His word. When the troubles and trials come, instead of letting them grow and grow, open your Bible, find a promise, and claim it in Jesus’ name. Here’s one that’s surely too big for me to comprehend, but I often claim it: “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”5 And here’s another one: “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”6 No wonder the Bible calls these promises exceedingly great and precious and tells us that through them we can “participate in the divine nature.”7