Faith…

It can be too easy sometimes to get lost in the outcomes of our faith that we can miss what faith is all about. We are looking to move mountains but missing the point of faith. We look to what we receive by faith, sometimes even what we think by faith we should receive, instead of looking to the one through whom we receive faith and all its benefits.

I have been challenged by a friend recently to think about my faith. Am I limiting my faith by the way I think? Have I got the idea of faith wrong? Am I missing out on good things because of my lack of faith?

I think I have recently discovered that the answer to these questions is yes but not for the reasons I might have originally thought. I have been reading through Matthew’s gospel and over the last few days I’ve been noticing the times that Jesus rebukes people for their lack of faith. I have been wrestling with this idea of faith and lack of faith and it occurred to me tonight as I read Matthew 16 and 17, particularly 17:14-22, that a lack of faith is due to a focus on the outcomes of faith instead of on the person in whom we have faith. In this passage a man comes to Jesus begging him to heal his son who was possessed by a demon because Jesus’ disciples were unable to. When the disciples asked why they couldn’t heal the boy Jesus’ answer was, “Because you have so little faith.”

The disciples’ problem wasn’t to do with the outcome, exorcising the demon, but to do with their faith in Jesus. They didn’t understand that Jesus was the Son of God who was to conquer the Prince of Demons.

You see it again in 16:5-12, the disciples were thinking about outcomes, bread in this case, and missed that Jesus is the provider of all their needs. This is also why Peter, who was walking on water started to sink, because he took his eyes off Jesus and began looking at the outcome of his faith (Matt 14:22-33).

Faith is not about the outcomes but the one in whom we put our faith, Jesus Christ. When we focus squarely on him, the outcomes seem to pale in comparison, yet they flow freely at the same time! We are truly blessed abundantly when we stop looking at the outcomes of our faith and look to Jesus. Get the focus right… don’t look to the outcomes on the periphery when you can look squarely at the source, Jesus Christ himself!

When we fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith, when we seek first his kingdom and stop worrying about the results, the blessings will overflow and our burdens will be much lighter!

I will get back to the singleness issue very soon… I promise!

Do you have the gift of singleness??

This is a question on the minds of many young Christians today… Many would see the gift of singleness as a special, supernatural gifting from God that disables sexual desires within a person, giving them the ability to be single for life. This ‘gift of singleness’ is also often attributed to Paul the Apostle, specifically the teaching of 1 Corinthians 7. But I think that if Paul were around today he would be most adamantly objected to this idea!

I think Paul would say (and in fact does say in 1 Cor 7:7) that if you are single, you currently have the gift of singleness! And if you are married, you currently have the gift of marriage! Both singleness and marriage are blessings from God. They are both gifts in their own right. And at any point, God, in his great wisdom, may present the occasion in which your gift may be exchanged. Just because I currently have the gift of singleness, doesn’t mean that I will never be married. And just because my married counterparts currently have the gift of marriage, doesn’t mean that as a result of a tragic accident or illness, they may once again have the gift of singleness.

Both marriage and singleness are blessings and gifts from God, although, they are two very different gifts and bring with them very different privileges and heartaches. Again, I think this is what Paul is saying in 1 Cor 7. Being married brings with it many more cares and concerns than singleness. A married person has a spouse to consider, love and take care of. With a spouse comes another whole family, with some in-laws. It may bring with it the blessing of 1, 2, 3, 4 or more children; a bunch more people to be responsible for. These things are also blessings themselves, but with each of these blessings there is a huge amount of responsibility and concerns. Singleness doesn’t bring with it these kinds of privileges and concerns; it has a set of different ones. A single person has more freedom with their time. There are less people dependent on them every time they make a decision. But it does come with the heartache of loneliness and the desire for companionship. I think this is Paul’s point in the second half of 1 Cor 7 and as a pastor he wants to spare people the worries and added concerns of marriage.

Marriage is NOT a sinful or second rate choice for those who cannot control their hormones. Again, I think Paul would be horrified with this conclusion! Marriage is a blessing from God. It was woven into the fabric of creation right back in Genesis 2 when the woman was created as a helper for the man. Marriage is a beautiful thing! However, it is also not to be elevated so highly to the detriment of the blessing of singleness! Singleness is NOT a second rate choice for those who no one really wants to marry. If you are single right now, there is NOTHING wrong with you! You are not single because you are unlovely!

Both marriage and singleness are blessings from God, and Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to get their priorities right…the Kingdom of God comes FIRST! Whatever situation God has placed you in, serve him! Don’t waste your life wishing you had the other gift. Both gifts have privileges and heartaches, and God knows your pain, whatever it might be. God is our loving Father who knows what is best for us and the hard thing is that it may not always be what we think is best for us. But God is a trustworthy God! He loves his children and is working all things out for their good (Rom 8:28). He wants us to seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness and he will provide all that we need (Matt 6:25-34). Whether we are single or married, whatever our current gifting, God wants us to use our gift for his glory. He wants us to put his kingdom first!!

To come… Can you choose lifelong singleness?