Sight. Smell. Taste. Touch. Hearing.
This is how humans experience the world.
God gives a 6th sense. A sense we can only experience through the Spirit He gives us.
Faith
A word whose definition is almost oxymoronic.
Being certain of what we do not see.
In our world we are certain of what we can see.
If you’re looking for a blue shirt, you hunt for a blue shirt and once you see it is blue, you go and get it.
Faith is the first sense you need to have any kind of relationship with God.
A minute minority might experience God through the natural senses.
Even though some people claim to have seen Him, most of us would propose therapy for anyone making that claim.
Jesus himself put it this way.
Blessed are those who believe without seeing1.
Our Lord expected the majority of those who would believe in Him to do so without seeing.
Everyone living today, lives after the time of Christ, thus sight cannot be used to assess our faith in God.
So how are we certain?
How do we know?
We know through God’s Spirit in us.
And this is the knowledge that is often put to the test.
Faith cannot be subjected to the scientific method, but if you’ve lived long enough, you should know that the fact that a theory withstands the scientific method doesn’t make it true.
Faith happens when we act on that thing that we can’t see but are certain of.
That’s what happened with the friends of Daniel.2
They had no idea that that day was potentially going to be their last.
They saw no angels before they went into the fire.
But they were certain.
You don’t risk your life if you’re not certain.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were so certain of what they believed that they risked everything.
If they had seen deliverance beforehand, it wouldn’t have been called faith.
If we believe we will be tested,
The scary part is, I can’t tell if your belief will end up with a story like Shadrach’s or like Stephen.
His is not a story we particularly like telling.
Let me rephrase.
Stephen’s story is not one that I particularly like telling.
He had faith and STILL got killed.
The part I often gloss over is what he saw at his death.
Stephen saw God’s glory. Stephen saw Jesus
Don’t go so fast that you miss it.
Keywords: God. Jesus. Glory
I’ve seen earthly rewards.
Daniel’s friends saw earthly rewards.3
I don’t know what a heavenly reward looks like much as I try to imagine, so it’s easy for me to discount Stephen’s experience as one who chose the right route and got punished.
That’s because I can’t see what happened once Stephen got to heaven.
But I have the better example of a Jesus who did go to glory through a brutal death
Jesus, pre Calvary was only known by a few.
Jesus, post Calvary is worshiped by every generation since then, and every generation that is to come.
Maybe walking in faith has cost you a lot.
God showed us the ultimate when it comes to faith – even the parts that are not pretty.
Maybe you don’t know how to recover everything you’ve lost because you chose to do the right thing.
Maybe you feel more like Stephen and less like Shadrack; and maybe that has left a sour note in your heart
Faith is always rewarded.
Whether the reward is present or eternal
Regardless of the time. Regardless of the place
You will see God’s hand.
You may see God.
Hold on.
1John 20 v 29
2Daniel 3
3Daniel 3 v 30