“But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’” Matthew 14:30
Not too long ago, I heard about a woman who was diagnosed with kidney disease among about a dozen other ailments. The doctor recommended dialysis. In fact, dialysis was more than a recommendation; it was necessary for life. With a “No, thank you,” she refused the treatment, telling blood family and church family that she knew she was healed. By His stripes she was healed. She did well for a while, then everything fell apart and she ended up in the hospital again. Again, the doctors pressed her to begin dialysis to save her life. Her unbelieving family pressed her. But something different happened this time. This time, the truth came out. She had refused the dialysis because she didn’t want people to think she wasn’t “in faith”. She had refused out of fear, not out of faith, a mistake that nearly cut short her life and left her family with the legacy of a sizeable grudge against the gospel.
That’s a dangerous game.
I believe we were healed with Jesus’ stripes (2 Peter 2:24). I believe Peter literally walked across the surface of a stormy sea at the Lord’s beckoning. I believe Jesus has given us authority over all the miracle-working power of the devil (Luke 10:19). But I also believe Joshua 1:3, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you.” If we haven’t walked it out, it isn’t ours. Pure and simple.
Walking by faith is not a fake it ‘til you make it proposition. We can’t fake making kidney disease go away any more than we can fake walking on water.
So, how do we know when we’re “in faith”? How do we know when the circumstances are going to yield to the Word? When the natural will yield to the supernatural? I take my example from the words of the three Hebrew children the moment before they were tossed into Babylon’s fiery furnace (Daniel 3:16-18). Can I match their determination and confidence, saying, “Whether God delivers me or not, I will not bow! But God WILL deliver me!” Am I prepared to go the distance, whatever the results? In the deepest recesses of my heart, do I believe I won’t be able to go under for going over? If I can say yes without fear, that’s a good sign. If I sense myself wavering, I know I’m in doubt and will not get the miraculous manifestation I need (James 1:6-7). In other words, I’m toast. I need to go back to the Word, the source of faith. The Fountain of Faith, if you will. I have to be sure because people are watching. All kinds of people. And the devil is watching too.
There is no condemnation to us. We are in Christ Jesus. There is no condemnation when we go to the doctor for help. There is no condemnation when we need a financial bailout. There is no condemnation when we struggle. When we wrestle. Let’s keep ourselves in liberty. Let’s work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. From faith to faith.
And let’s be careful to let the other guy do that, too.