By Shari Tyson
I think two of the most powerful words in Scripture are in Hebrews 11—“Faith IS.” Faith is always in the present tense, or it isn’t faith. Faith cannot be something that was or will be. If faith is to be “the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen” (Heb.11:1), it must be NOW.
Faith is what I have in what God has already done. Faith moves me. Faith pleases God, but it does not move God. God already moved at the cross. Now I must develop the faith already resident within my regenerated spirit to appropriate its current and victorious quality.
If I ever find myself feeling discouraged or frustrated with any circumstance of my life, it is because faith no longer IS in my life. Discouragement, frustration, fear, and unrest cannot exist in an atmosphere where faith IS. So, if I find myself experiencing any of those negative emotions, it is the first indication that I have moved from the realm of faith into the realm of physical senses, and that’s my cue to change.
Feeling negative emotions is never a bad thing unless I let them control me. In fact, negative emotions can serve me well if I realize their proper function in my life. If I had no sensation of pain, life would be a perilous journey. Just the simple task of making dinner could be tragic. I could accidentally place my hand onto a hot surface and critically burn myself if I didn’t have the sensation of pain to cause me to withdraw my hand quickly.
Likewise, feelings of discouragement or fear or frustration or anger are cues that I am doing something that will harm me. Rather than be defeated by them, I should use them to my advantage by allowing them to let me know that I have moved from a place where faith IS to a place where faith ISN’T. Just as the pain that registers in my hand causes me to withdraw from that hot surface and keeps me from destruction, so the negative feelings I experience should cause me to withdraw from the sensual realm back into the realm of the spirit, where I belong. Kept in their proper place, negative emotions will actually keep me from destruction because they awaken me to the knowledge that I have left the overcoming place of NOW faith.
When my faith IS, anything that might trouble me WAS!
Shari Tyson leads the nursery ministry at Abundant Life Covenant Church
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