Signals I'm Not Living by Faith

Sometimes it is easy to have faith in God's promises while praying but then proceed as though the battle were mine, rather than following the leadership of the Holy Spirit. 

I did this once with a friend who came to me for advice. I had been praying for God to work in certain areas in her life, and now He had given me the perfect opportunity to say what I wanted to say. Well, at least I wanted to think He had. 

But as I talked I went a few paragraphs too far, saying what I thought she needed, rather than what she could hear. My talking was "in the flesh."The Lord's rebuke to me came in the form of His words, "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear" (John 16:12). He reminded me that there had been times He had more to say than the people could respond to, so He had been sensitive and had spoken only what the Father prompted Him to say. "You thought you could change her with your words when you should have relied on My Spirit."

Such an effort to do things my way signaled that I had failed to trust God to lead. I discovered that faith-living is evidenced by little things such as tone of voice, choice of words, or a smile of acceptance. Little comments became big indicators of whether or not I was living by faith.

When Abraham followed God's call to a far-away land, he lived "as in a strange country"--not as owner or conqueror. He didn't go in and proclaim that he was taking over because God had promised the land to him. The faith-way is to allow God to fulfill His promises in His own time and manner. I do not have to force issues to bring about His will.

Thank You, Jesus, that You patiently teach us to live by faith.

"We live by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).