God wants us to be living testimonies of trusting faith. People watch us every day; especially those who profess faith in God. So sometimes unbelievers want to see you slip up in your work and fail. They want to see that your faith doesn’t work or make you perfect. They are right in one thing. Faith doesn’t make you perfect! But it does work. It demonstrates that you place your faith—your trust—in God’s faithfulness! He is perfect.
RELEVANCE
God looks for opportunities to demonstrate His faithfulness to the unbelieving world. That’s His number one mission: “that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:23).
So He looks for faithful vessels that can be living testimonies. Therefore as we submit our lives to God, endure trials and conflict and are patient for Him to work in and through us, we become a living testimony to the world of a God living in us. As they see our trusting faith it draws them to Him; to a place of likewise placing their trust in Him.
I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth —
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the LORD.
(Psalm 40:1-3)
Truly, faith is more than a mental belief, but trust that expresses itself through our behavior and action. Our knowledge doesn’t impress the world. However, our actions based on real genuine trusting faith do.
REFLECT AND RELATE
What do people see in you? What impresses them to want to place trusting faith in the God in whom you trust? How can you demonstrate more of God in you?
REFERENCES
Psalm 34:1-22; Isaiah 60:1-5