In watching the Tom and Jerry cartoon and what they do best: chasing and pranking each other, It always feels as though both characters fully grasp that faith and action go hand in hand. In their exciting escapades, they both never say die and stop at nothing to get what they want.
It doesn’t rain forever. Just have faith. Keep going. It is well. You can do it. These are powerful phrases that can take you through tough times yet we sometimes don’t want to hear them. It takes a firm decision to take them in and remain seemingly unfazed by life’s obstacles through faith.
Have you ever been in a position where you wanted to scream and ghost that positive person who kept telling you it shall be well when you were seemingly swimming in a bottomless pit? Haven’t we all- ask Sarah. When time passed by and menopause was kicking her reproductive door by force by fire, she could see no option but to allow Haggai to lend her womb. It never went well.
Through well documented research and Biblical stories, people who confessed to having had faith, stood confidently on the assurance in what they hoped for, and in what they did not see. They greatly succeeded. I applaud them because it is not a walk in the park.
The Bible covers faith widely and deeply. It teaches us the definition of faith, in what ancients were commended for, and their achievements through faith.
Examples Of Biblical Figures Who Conquered Through Faith
- Noah’s character is impressive. He reminds me of that one mad man in every market who is constantly ignored day in day out. He perhaps must have defied loads of mockery and isolation year in year out while warning people who thought some of his bolts had loosened. Noah took the warning about things not yet seen seriously. Out of obedience, faith and love for his loved ones, he built an ark to save his family.
- Like a two year old determined to get a popsickle, the persistent widow with little power as told through Jesus’ parable valiantly got justice in Luke 18. This woman would just not give up- she woke up early daily to visit the Judge’s chambers in order to get her land back. Funnily, that judge could not stand her presence any longer and ordered for restoration of her land- as long as he would not see her again. Girl bye.
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- Daddy Abraham, the father of faith and many sons, through faith packed up his belongings, left his comfort zone and traveled to a foreign place that he would later receive as his inheritance. He officially stamped the future of his offspring and descendants Isaac and Jacob, who became heirs with him in what God had promised. Imagine leaving your comfortable life to go to a foreign country and live in tents, subjecting your children to a somewhat unknown and uncomfortable life? Well, Abraham did so and inherited the Promised Land, great wealth and numerous descendants.
- Sarah and Abraham, even though they had been deemed unable to bear children, became parents because they believed and trusted God and his promises. In all honesty, Sarah did laugh at the thought of bearing a child at her age as both of them were too old to have children, but God blessed them with a child anyway.
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- David, a man after God’s heart through faith overcame jealous King Saul for years, lions and bears in the desert, giant Goliath, ridicule from his brothers, uncomfortable shelter from enemy camps and an attempted assassination by his own people among other attacks. He went on to become a mighty king.
- Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego danced and sang praises to God in the large furnace seven times hotter than usual as instructed by the deluded Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. They were joined by a fourth man in the fire- our Lord Jesus Christ. Those praise and worship songs must have been hot and fiery!
- When tragedy struck uncle Job, he lost everything but his faith. He praised God even the more despite rebuke from his wife and frenemies. His reward? Restoration up to 7, maybe 100 fold?
- Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai saved the lives of their people through prayer and fasting. Esther’s understanding of wisdom and effective communication as an effective strategy to get justice, spoke deeply to her king.
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Faith Guarantees Immense growth Through:
- Spiritual and physical strength.
- Faith makes us adapt to the belief that God is able and the gift of salvation is ours to enjoy. It kills fear in all its forms.
- We gain control through faith because we know and understand that God is always in control.
Bible Verses On Faith
Psalm 138 says of God, "In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.” When we are right with God, we never go into turmoil alone. We have the Creator of the Universe on our side. Hebrews 11 1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age--and Sarah herself was barren--was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones. 23 By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. 32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
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