Faith

Numbers 26:64 But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For the LORD had said of them, "They shall surely die in the wilderness " And not a man was left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 

A census was taken and the number of fighting men determined. The last words of the census are what we just read. They tell a story of missed opportunity for some and incredible blessing for others. And all that made the difference was faith.

We are in the middle of Olympic glory and the theme word for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games is Believe. I have two lunchroom helpers in my class who love the CTV theme song sang by Nikki Yanofsky called I Believe. They play it on my Smartboard five or six times every lunch period. The point of the song is faith. Not Faith in God, though at points I think the writers inadvertently either deified the world or slipped in references to Him. It is faith in ourselves and faith in the goodness of the "world brought together as one." 

The song is lovely and Nikki's singing is beyond amazing. But the faith focus is the problem. You see the men who died in the wilderness had faith just like Joshua and Caleb. But the former's faith was, like Nikki's song says, "I believe in the power of you and I." They saw their capabilities and knew that they were not up to the contest. Joshua and Caleb realistically saw their abilities and concluded the same thing but that is not where their faith lay. They trusted in God, not themselves.

Numbers 13:25 When they returned from spying out the land . . . they brought back word to them . . . "We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 "Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 "Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan. 30

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it." 

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us." 14:6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, . . . spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, "The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 "If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us--a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 "Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." 10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. . . .

We see clearly that everyone in the story had faith but only two had their faith focused in the right place - on God's ability. The faith of Joshua and Caleb was rewarded with a chance to do exploits for God. He appointed Joshua to be the leader of the people after Moses. He gave Caleb the strength and courage of a young man even though he was very old. Both walked on the Promised Land and obtained an inheritance in it. Why? Because they believed.

Just so you don't think I limit faith to a spiritual realm please understand that I know very well that every Olympic athlete must have faith to do what they do. Even though it may sound like it, I don't denounce their faith or equate it to the first generation Israelite's faith. In fact I deeply admire their faith. The faith of those who, in some cases, risk their lives to push themselves to the limit of their skill may in fact lead them to a place of reverence for God because it is more like true faith than most believer's faith. 

Olympic faith is one that in the very least believes for a positive outcome for which they are very willing to suffer hardship and self discipline to achieve. They are not using their faith to say they can't win so why try. They believe to win. That is a very different sort of faith. It is much more like Joshua and Caleb's.

Of course I am not saying that placing our trust in anything less than God will bring us to safe harbor. I am saying that many of us who profess faith more often use it as a reason why we can't possibly achieve great things for God than why we can.

An active, risk taking faith is one which says, "All things are possible so I am ready to try the impossible for and with God."

It is easy to stay safe in a place of "leaving it all up to God" which so often means not risking anything. People like Joshua and Caleb have the kind of faith that continually looks for ways to do impossible things for God's glory. They look at mountains as just waiting to be moved. They look at desperate situations as golden opportunities to make a reputation for God. They are not ever saying, "God do I have to do this?" They are always begging, "God please let me do this for your glory."

William Carey was a Joshua and Caleb kind of guy. In 1815, when he saw that the Moravians (who were not Baptists like he was) were winning thousands of people to Jesus he went to his local gathering of ministers and shared with them he believed that God desired them to, "spread the gospel throughout the world." He told all about what the Moravians were doing even though they were "infant baptizers." One of his more experienced fellow ministers rebuked him saying, ""Young man, sit down; when God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid and mine." 

Here you see the two kinds of faith I am talking about. Both men believed in God. One's faith was active and seeking to do exploits for God. The other used faith to avoid moving outside the status quo. That is why I say that the faith of the Olympic athletes has more in common with an active, God centered, risk taking faith than the faith of those who use God as an excuse for lethargy.

William Carey led more people to Christ and had a greater impact for God in India and the world than almost any man living at the time. His work went far beyond personal evangelism. He created the first Baptist mission society - anyone who knows Baptists today know that they believe in leading people to Jesus and it is because of William Carey that it is so - He founded universities and used the printing press not only to tell people about Jesus on the field but also to stir hearts of those in the homelands to the need of world missions. He founded mercy ministries and was greatly involved in education. He is often called the founder of the modern missions movement. His most often quoted saying epitomizes what I believe is positive faith.

Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.

I am in tears as I write these words because I want to be a man like Joshua, Caleb and William Carey. I do not want to use my faith to stay safe and unchallenged. I want to see the world with God's eyes and the heart of faith that is looking for ways to see the impossible done. For me that is what real faith is.