One of the best explanations of faith that I have learned is this: âFaith is simply a good opinion of Godâ.
This makes it so simple for me. When I need faith, I donât have to look at myself to produce faith. I just need to look at God. And true enough, in times where I am low in faith, itâs because my opinion of God at the time needs adjusting.
Our Worries Speak a Bad Word about God
Letâs say Iâm worrying about money, what is my heart really saying? Itâs saying âGod might not provide this timeâ⌠âRemember that one time when you were in tough times? That might happen again. If God allowed it before he can allow it againâ⌠âYouâre on your own. Do whatever it takes to make ends meetâ.
Does that make God look good? Does that glorify him? No. And who suffers? God? Or me?
Letâs say youâre worrying about your health. What are you really saying? âGod may or may not heal meâ⌠âSometimes he lets us stay sick to teach us a lessonâ⌠âWhat about XYZ? He got sick and heâs a good Christian guyââŚ
Is that having a good opinion of God? No, not at all.
Where Faith Comes From
Thatâs why the bible says that faith comes from hearing the Word of God. Because the Word of God always shows you how good God is! Did he ever blast someone with sickness to teach them a lesson? Would you do that to your own child? Will you give your son a snake if he asks for an egg? What more your Father in heaven! Did Jesus ever refuse to heal someone? Was there anyone ever in lack when Jesus was around? Is there any account of someone dying when Jesus was around? Lazarus died when Jesus wasnât around⌠but he resurrected when Jesus arrived. The Word of God has a good opinion of God.
The bible also says Faith is a gift from God. Itâs something God does. Our hearts always have a tendency to be veiled⌠and God always lifts that veil. Just this afternoon I was worrying like crazy about something. And there was this voice in my head saying âwhy are you still worrying about this? Arenât you the guy who always talks about Grace vs Anxiety, etc etc?â.. Thatâs the voice of the enemy kicking me when Iâm down. But you know, when youâre caught in the middle of it â itâs really, really hard! You canât âget a gripâ on yourself. God has to get a grip on you.
God is asking you today: âWhen will you learn to have a good opinion of me? Am I not your Father who loves you? I will take care of you. Be confident of that and restâ.
Unless you people see Signs
In John 4 (where we left off a long time ago!) Jesus went back to his hometown after his trip to Jerusalem. He knows that people there donât have a good opinion of him. Hereâs what he said:
John 4: 48 âUnless you people see signs and wonders,â Jesus told him, âyou will never believe.â
In those words you can almost feel Jesusâ frustration. Of course he wants them to believe! This is the problem with unbelief. Unbelief is basically saying âGod is not so goodâ. In the case of the people there, their unbelief sounded something like: âIf this guy is who he says he is, he better prove itâ.
Where does this come from? Why do people need a miracle before they start believing?
The Law and Unbelief
One of the biggest reasons, is because of our religious background. The Jews lived in the time of the Law. The Law basically says you need to earn your blessing. If you havenât been following the law lately, youâre not receiving anything from God. This mentality is still prevalent today- and it does bigtime damage to our faith in God. If we lived in this frame of mind, if weâve been taught anything that sounds like this growing up, weâre basically saying âGod will give only what I deserveâ. If God blesses us we say: âWell and good, I deserve it.â On the other hand, if we donât feel like we deserve anything, but we need a miracle â healing or provision we donât come to God at all. And if we did, we donât come expecting. Because we feel we donât deserve it.
This is why many times we feel like weâre on our own. Because our minds still havenât been renewed about the matter at hand and weâre still dwelling on the whole meritocracy mindset of the law. You see, God has no problem giving. We have a problem receiving.
The Law does not give people faith. It causes people to work. And work is the opposite of faith. Faith rests in God. A Work Mentality says âIâm on my ownâ. If I ever get rich, itâs because I earned it. If I ever get âblessedâ itâs because I deserved it. If I am healthy, itâs because I took good care of my bodyâ. Itâs all âI, I, Iâ. A Work Mentality also says things like âI wonât get blessed today because I have not been behaving well.â It turns God into an impersonal, uncaring economic force. Not a loving Father.
The more we preach LAW, the worse our opinion of God becomes. We see God as someone excited to punish sins, and unwilling to bless. We do not see his heart which delights in mercy and grace.
Grace and Faith
This is why the message of Grace changes everything for us who believe. Grace says âGod will give you something you do not deserve. Not because you are good but because He is Good.â Looking back at the story in John 4: Jesus was complaining that people needed a sign, but he still healed the sick boy in the story. He has no problem giving us signs and wonders! It is just frustrating for him to know that many times, we refuse to believe at face value â just taking him at his word, or just assuming the best from him. Why? Because he loves to bless us! He hates to see unbelief robbing us!
Many times my wife and I have fights about words. You know those arbitrary sentences which can either mean something very good or very bad? Those cause many fights! Sometimes I get hurt and say âThatâs not what I meant! Why did you assume that I meant that other horrible meaning?â. I do it a lot to her too! And she says âWhy canât you give me the benefit of the doubt? Of course thatâs not what I meant!â. We fight because we do not assume the best from each other all the time. We choose to believe the worst. It is the same with God.
If we ever wonder if God will provide â why canât we just assume he will? If we donât have enough faith to be certain, letâs just assume the best. Donât say âwell Iâm afraid to hope and be disappointedâ. Faith is having a good opinion of God. Say âHe will not disappointâ. The people in Galilee in Jesusâ time did not believe God would heal, give, provide, love and care for them. People today â even Christians â have the same difficulty in believing. The oppression from years and years of being preached the LAW did that to us.
The Sign of Jonah
In another account, Jesus says that only a âwicked generation asks for a signâ. Please donât read this and feel bad â like Jesus is calling you wicked for your unbelief. He was specifically referring to the Pharisees and Sadducees. But he also warned against their âyeastâ or their teaching â which infects us with the same unbelief. And what do they teach all the time? The law! They were the most legalistic, religious bunch! And they were hypocrites by default, because no one could live up to the standard they were demanding â or were saying that God demanded. Itâs their message that made people have a bad opinon of God.
But anyway, Jesus continued to say that the only sign they were going to get was the Sign of Jonah. And what is the Sign of Jonah? Jonah was in the belly of the whale for 3 days. Jesus was referring to his death and resurrection. That should be sign enough for everyone!
My friend, the sign of Jonah is the gospel. It tells you that Jesus died for you! It tells you that if you believe God cannot be good to you because you donât deserve it, remember that he was âbadâ to Jesus even if Jesus didnât deserve it. Jesus took our place. Jesusâ death threw that whole âbusiness of deservingâ out of the window! That gives us the divine right to expect good things from God. And Jesus rose from the dead! Thatâs a declaration that his death was accepted by God as payment for our sin. That there was more Good in Jesusâ life than the Bad that he was punished to pay for.
Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us allâhow will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
If God gave you Jesus, that is proof enough of how good he is. He values Jesus more than anything in the universe. And yet he did not withhold Jesus- he gave him to us.
Guilty of Presumption
In the past I would be afraid to pray with faith because I did not want to be guilty of presumption. But today I am telling you â that it is far better to be guilty of presumption than to be guilty of unbelief! (Sorry for using the word guilty. Either way you can never be guilty again because of the cross! But you know what I mean!)
So like I said a while ago I was struggling with a certain worry. Do you know what I did? I picked up my bible (no I donât always do this when Iâm worried! But good thing I did a while ago)⌠and decided to pray.. I prayed the most presumptious prayers ever.
- I did not say things like âGod if it is your willâŚ.â I just assumed it was his will.
- I didnât say âIn your time, GodâŚâ I just said out loud that I expected it at a specific time.
- I didnât say âIf you want to Godâ I just assumed and believed he wanted to.
And when I was done praying like that, I felt his pleasure over me. Like he was saying âyou sounded much better right there than you did a while ago when you were worrying like crazyâ.
God did not say âWhat a presumptuous boyâ. I know it was more like âNow thereâs someone with a good opinion of me!â. I wish I could be like that always!
The Real Sign and Wonder
Our hearts can be so hard. When you see Jesus saying âOh you of little faithâ⌠he means it! But thatâs something he came to help us with too!
Remember that God does not demand from you. He supplies to you. The faith he wants to see in you â he will give it to you as well. For me, I would have no basis to believe God, no basis to have a good opinion of him â if not for the Cross.
The Cross is the reason why I do not need to look at myself â whether or not I deserve Godâs goodness.
The Cross is proof that Jesus loves me so much.
The Cross is proof that the Father will not spare anything, withhold anything from me. He loves us that much.
Unless we see signs and wonders we will not believe. But we see the cross. And itâs impossible not to believe.
The real miracle â is what happens in our hearts when we accept the message of Godâs love, grace, mercy and favor for us â through his son Jesus. The way we see God begins to change, and everything changes along with it.
Thank you for your cross Lord! I look upon your cross and believe! Everything is a YES and AMEN because of the cross! Continue to change the way I see you!
–Â stefansuarez