One theme that runs throughout the Bible is that God rewards genuine faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek him.”
This is a lesson I began to learn just after getting married. Shortly after beginning a new life with my new bride, we both quit our jobs, packed up what little belongings we had and moved to another state to begin seminary. This was an exciting time for sure, but we were leaving a life of comfort and security for a life of faith and learning to live a life of faith that is not dictated by the circumstances of life. During that time in our life and even now, God has proven himself faithful to us. I would love to tell you that every time a challenge was placed in front of us, we passed with flying colors and were great examples of faithful servants, but that was not the case. There were times when we were faithful and trusted fully in God and then there were times that the challenges of the life overwhelmed us and we would panic and wonder how we would make it through. But even during that period of life and even now, God has always been faithful and He desires for us, as His children to depend upon Him and have a faith in Him that is not determined by circumstances. In the good times, we trust God and have faith in Him, and in the hard, difficult times, we trust God and have faith in Him and His word.
One of my favorite passages in the Scripture is found in Mark 7:24-30. In this passage, we see an example of a woman whose faith in Jesus was so strong and persistent that even an apparent rebuke from the Lord would not stop her from trusting in Jesus. In this passage, we meet a Syrophoenician woman, a Gentile, who needed a miracle from Jesus. God’s Word tells us this woman found Jesus, fell at His feet, and begged Him to heal her daughter. What I love so much about this passage is the woman’s response to Jesus. It is her persistent faith that Jesus can save her daughter that does not let her get disheartened or hurt.
We can learn much from this gentile woman who needed Jesus. She had so much working against her yet still held to a belief that Jesus could save her daughter. How persistent are we in our faith? How easy do we give up when we do not get what we asked for? Like this woman, may our faith be so persistent that our circumstances do not deter us from believing that God can save us!
Pastor Jeff