“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NLT)
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV)
“Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; 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.” (Matthew 17:20 NKJV)
“Having looked on them, Jesus says, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27 BSB)
“For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Mark 1:37 NKJV)
I could go on for days, weeks, months, years, a lifetime sharing what I am learning about living in the Land of Mystery (Faith’s Treasure-House) and Impossible (Faith’s Playground). However, it is time to move on (we will definitely dig deeper in the future).
In wrapping this up, I want to look at the Life of Abraham. He is a great example of what we have been talking about. He lived most of his life in a combination of Mystery and Impossible. He demonstrated both faith and obedience throughout his life and was rewarded richly in every area (spiritual, physical, and material).
His walk with Lord began when he was told to pack up and move without being told where he was going.
“Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” (Genesis 12:1-4 NKJV)
Do you see the Mystery? Many times the Lord will direct us to begin a new chapter in our lives and purposely leave out details. I think He does this to strengthen our trust in Him and help us to grow in the areas of faith and obedience.
Later Abraham was told that he would father a child when he was 100 and Sarah his wife was 99. Talk about Impossible! Yet they both received the promise by faith and had a child. When this child was older God directed Abraham to offer him as a sacrifice. Abraham obeyed based on His faith in the character of God with complete confidence that He would either provide a substitute, or resurrect his son. Abraham entered into the Land of impossible without hesitation.
The Apostle Paul also experienced the call to live in Mystery as he tried to figure out where the Lord wanted him to go and preach the Gospel.
“Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the [b]Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (Acts 16:6-10 NKJV).
Notice that rather than get frustrated, or quit, when he was in the dark as to why he kept getting redirected, Paul simply obeyed. As a result of his obedience to follow even when he didn’t know where he would end up many people heard, and responded to the Gospel.
Abraham embraced both Mystery and Impossible and became the Father of the faith. He was greatly blessed as a result.
Paul embraced both areas of faith as well and was able to write the majority of the New Testament which has been used to spread the Gospel for over 2000 years.
When we give our lives to the Lord, and live by faith and obedience, He will take us into the Land of Mystery and Impossible. As we embrace the challenge, like Abraham we will be blessed in every area of our lives. Like Paul we will have a great impact on the Kingdom as the testimony of our lives give influence and impact to the Gospel in the lives of those we meet.
That’s all I will say for today about…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 63: “Living in the Land of ‘Mystery’ (Faith’s Treasure-House) and ‘Impossible’ (Faith’s Playground).” Part 10 – Conclusion