We’ve all experienced times when we try to help someone and they close the doors on our efforts. Maybe we only wish to encourage them, but they take it wrong. Maybe they are in need of gentle correction, but they cut us off. Maybe all we want to do is help them weed the garden, but they send us away, telling us that they can do it themselves.
Isn’t it true that people are often their own worst enemies?
Let’s not be too hard on them. They are only acting like typical human beings, no different from you or I. After all, haven’t we all, at one time or another, been angry at God for not answering our prayers? Accused Him of not caring? Of abandoning us? Haven’t we sometimes felt that His promises were for someone else? Haven’t we sometimes lost faith in His ability to help us?
Not the same you say?
Or is it?
Let’s look. The Bible teaches us that it is our faith in God that can move mountains. When we choose to believe He doesn’t care or has abandoned us, we are demonstrating lack of faith, and in essence, we are closing the door to His help.
Let’s consider Matt 17:19-21. The disciples had just failed to cast out a demon. They didn’t understand why, and they said to Jesus: “Why could we not cast it out?” (Matt 17:19 NKJV)
Jesus’ reply? “Because of your unbelief…” (Matt 17:20)
In other words, their lack of faith in God kept them from what they needed. Let’s look at the rest of Jesus’ words:
“…For assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:20-21 NKJV)
Jesus specifically says five times, as recorded in the gospels: “Oh you of little faith!” The first time, we are being admonished not to worry (See Matt 6:30 and Luke 12:28). The second time, the disciples were being rebuked because of their fear in the storm. Jesus said, “oh you of little faith” before calming the waters (See Matt 8:26). In the next scenario, after walking on the water, Peter looked away from Jesus and began to sink. Jesus caught him and said to him, “Oh you of little faith. Why did you doubt?” (See Matt 14:31). Finally, Jesus used this phrase when the disciples were worried about not having brought food along for a trip (See Matt 16:8).
Each time Jesus is indicating that we don’t have what we need, be it safety in a storm, food, clothing, or doing what is impossible, because of our lack of faith. Our lack of faith is in cutting ourselves off from the help we so desperately need! We are our own worst enemies!
But wait: Maybe you have been taking a stand in faith, and nothing is happening! What then?
Could it be that what you are believing for may not be for your best good? Is your faith strong enough to embrace the fact that God has your best good in mind, even if you can’t see it?
Let me illustrate: A new driver who has had his license for less than three months is pulled over for turning left at an intersection that is clearly posted, “No left turn.” For this new driver it means that insurance rates will increase to the point that he will no longer be able to afford insurance, which, in the western world, means his driving career is over.
Now let’s go back a few moments to the time when this young driver first sees the red lights flashing on the police car. Immediately he begins to pray, believing that God will intervene: “Father, may it just be for something routine!”
But when the policeman arrives at the window and informs him he made an illegal turn, he realizes his prayer hasn’t been answered.
At that stage his prayer changes: “Father, give him a forgiving heart! Help him to give me a second chance!”
Imagine his disappointment when the officer hands him a traffic ticket resulting in a monumental fine and two demerit points. What happens to this young driver’s faith then? He believed for a miracle that he didn’t receive, and now his driving career is over.
But let’s remember that God knows the end from the beginning. Let’s say that maybe, just maybe, God knows that in the upcoming year this same young driver would fall asleep at the wheel, roll the car, crash headfirst into a telephone pole, and lose his life. As a result of the traffic ticket however, that young driver is no longer driving, and his life is preserved. What do we say about God then?
Friends, thick or thin, our faith must be firm. We must solidly believe that no matter what, God has our best good in mind! Let’s let our faith be firmly grounded on the fact that God will provide for all our needs, even if what we really need is different than what we think we need. Let’s not shut out our best source of help. Let’s believe in God’s love for us, in His power to bring about what is for our best good. When we do so, we open the door for the moving of mountains.
And when we don’t, we become our own worst enemies!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries.