40 Days of Faith: Day 30
Faith is…A Gift We Give Back to God
Hebrews 11:29 – By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
Barbara Snyder was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in her teens and by the 1980s was in the final stages of the disease. She had been confined to her home and then hospice care for years, blind in one eye, unable to breathe without a ventilator, and curled in a fetal position from muscle contractions. Doctors declared her case terminal.
On Pentecost Sunday, June 1981, over 400 people who knew Barbara were praying for her healing. That day, she suddenly heard a voice, not audible to others, that said, “My child, get up and walk!” Immediately, she ripped the oxygen tube from her nose, stood up, and walked without assistance. Her atrophied muscles instantly regained strength. Doctors, nurses, and family witnessed her recovery. Barbara went on to live a normal, healthy life for decades, baffling medical professionals.
Her healing was so extraordinary that it was later documented in Craig Keener’s scholarly work Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts (Baker Academic, 2011), where it is cited as one of the most medically verified modern miracles.[1]
As Moses is leading the Hebrew people out of Egypt, he is being led by the cloud by day and fire by night. As he and the people follow, the Lord leads them all to the edge of the Red Sea, then the Lord turned them around to give the appearance that they were lost and walking in circles. Can you imagine the thought process happening in Moses’ mind as they inched closer with every step to the sea? I am sure he was thinking, “God, what are you going to do here?”
The people were marked by fear, and they began to want to go back to being enslaved once again. Exodus 14:12-13 states:
Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.
When fear marks our lives, we fail to see clearly. We lose sight of God’s deliverance and provision in the past and we want to go back to something far less than ideal instead of pursuing God’s vision for our future.
Now, notice the contrast of the people’s mindset and Moses’ confidence in God. Exodus 14:13-14 states:
And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Note something with me before we see the entire nation cross on dry ground. The people lacked faith in this moment. They were ruled by fear. Their backs were against the wall, and they could see the enemy breathing down their back.
It is their new shepherd and leader, Moses, who has faith. He is the one saying, “The Lord will fight for you…” Moses’ faith was stirred, and he invited the entire nation to not fear, but to stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord. And it was his faith that God honored to get all of them across on dry ground.
As you read the next verse, Moses tells the people to stand firm and be quiet but notice what the Lord says to him. Exodus 14:15-16 states:
The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.
Moses was confident that God was going to do something. Yet it also appears that the Lord is giving him a “C” on this exam. In one way, he did good. He positioned the people to lure in the Egyptians, and he was confident that they would see God move. But it is also here that Moses gets the next steps incorrect.
The Lord wanted the people to be moving toward the peril, not being held still by fear. He wanted Moses to not have the people just sit back in silence and wait, but to take action toward a way of escape, believing that God would do something miraculous.
To help us here, let’s go back to Mark six when Jesus is in his own hometown, Nazareth. We looked at this on Day 19, from Matthew’s gospel. It is here, the people listen and are moved by his teaching. They begin to say, “Hey, we know this guy. He is Joseph’s son, and we know his mom and brothers. Who does he think he is?”
If you read it closely, you see them start their questions off speaking of his power and his authority to teach but quickly conclude that there is no way that he can be trusted or followed because they knew him when he was a kid.
Mark 6:4 then states:
4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
As Mark finishes this story, notice the commentary he gives as he writes his gospel. Mark 6:5-6 states:
And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.
The Son of God was limited in that region because of their lack of faith. Moses had faith. He didn’t get an “A” on the exam, but it was enough for God to work with, as all that is required is faith the size of a mustard-seed.
Do you believe in God’s ability to heal, provide, rescue, set free, and restore? Does God still heal disease or deliver those whose back is against the wall? Has our western mindset limited God’s ability in our region to do the miraculous?
Faith is God’s gift to us, but it’s also the one gift we can give back to Him. The Israelites had no strategy, no strength, and no way out when their backs were to the Red Sea—but by faith, they stepped forward, and God parted the waters. The same is true for us. When fear surrounds us, faith is what honors God and invites Him to move. Like Barbara Snyder rising from her sickbed or Moses raising his staff, faith positions us to see the miraculous. Will you give your faith back to God today? Take that next step of obedience, no matter how daunting. Offer Him trust instead of fear, movement instead of paralysis, and expectation instead of doubt.
Prayer:
Lord, thank You for the gift of faith. Today, I give it back to You. I confess the places where fear has ruled my heart and where unbelief has limited my steps. Strengthen me to walk forward into the unknown, believing You will part the waters before me. Stir in me a mustard-seed faith that trusts Your power to heal, restore, and deliver. May my faith be my gift of worship, pleasing to You and a testimony to others that You are the God who still works wonders. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
[1] Craig S. Keener, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts (Baker Academic, 2011), pp. 502–506.
Barbara Snyder was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in her teens and by the 1980s was in the final stages of the disease. She had been confined to her home and then hospice care for years, blind in one eye, unable to breathe without a ventilator, and curled in a fetal position from muscle contractions. Doctors declared her case terminal.
On Pentecost Sunday, June 1981, over 400 people who knew Barbara were praying for her healing. That day, she suddenly heard a voice, not audible to others, that said, “My child, get up and walk!” Immediately, she ripped the oxygen tube from her nose, stood up, and walked without assistance. Her atrophied muscles instantly regained strength. Doctors, nurses, and family witnessed her recovery. Barbara went on to live a normal, healthy life for decades, baffling medical professionals.
Her healing was so extraordinary that it was later documented in Craig Keener’s scholarly work Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts (Baker Academic, 2011), where it is cited as one of the most medically verified modern miracles.[1]
As Moses is leading the Hebrew people out of Egypt, he is being led by the cloud by day and fire by night. As he and the people follow, the Lord leads them all to the edge of the Red Sea, then the Lord turned them around to give the appearance that they were lost and walking in circles. Can you imagine the thought process happening in Moses’ mind as they inched closer with every step to the sea? I am sure he was thinking, “God, what are you going to do here?”
The people were marked by fear, and they began to want to go back to being enslaved once again. Exodus 14:12-13 states:
Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.
When fear marks our lives, we fail to see clearly. We lose sight of God’s deliverance and provision in the past and we want to go back to something far less than ideal instead of pursuing God’s vision for our future.
Now, notice the contrast of the people’s mindset and Moses’ confidence in God. Exodus 14:13-14 states:
And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Note something with me before we see the entire nation cross on dry ground. The people lacked faith in this moment. They were ruled by fear. Their backs were against the wall, and they could see the enemy breathing down their back.
It is their new shepherd and leader, Moses, who has faith. He is the one saying, “The Lord will fight for you…” Moses’ faith was stirred, and he invited the entire nation to not fear, but to stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord. And it was his faith that God honored to get all of them across on dry ground.
As you read the next verse, Moses tells the people to stand firm and be quiet but notice what the Lord says to him. Exodus 14:15-16 states:
The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.
Moses was confident that God was going to do something. Yet it also appears that the Lord is giving him a “C” on this exam. In one way, he did good. He positioned the people to lure in the Egyptians, and he was confident that they would see God move. But it is also here that Moses gets the next steps incorrect.
The Lord wanted the people to be moving toward the peril, not being held still by fear. He wanted Moses to not have the people just sit back in silence and wait, but to take action toward a way of escape, believing that God would do something miraculous.
To help us here, let’s go back to Mark six when Jesus is in his own hometown, Nazareth. We looked at this on Day 19, from Matthew’s gospel. It is here, the people listen and are moved by his teaching. They begin to say, “Hey, we know this guy. He is Joseph’s son, and we know his mom and brothers. Who does he think he is?”
If you read it closely, you see them start their questions off speaking of his power and his authority to teach but quickly conclude that there is no way that he can be trusted or followed because they knew him when he was a kid.
Mark 6:4 then states:
4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
As Mark finishes this story, notice the commentary he gives as he writes his gospel. Mark 6:5-6 states:
And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.
The Son of God was limited in that region because of their lack of faith. Moses had faith. He didn’t get an “A” on the exam, but it was enough for God to work with, as all that is required is faith the size of a mustard-seed.
Do you believe in God’s ability to heal, provide, rescue, set free, and restore? Does God still heal disease or deliver those whose back is against the wall? Has our western mindset limited God’s ability in our region to do the miraculous?
Faith is God’s gift to us, but it’s also the one gift we can give back to Him. The Israelites had no strategy, no strength, and no way out when their backs were to the Red Sea—but by faith, they stepped forward, and God parted the waters. The same is true for us. When fear surrounds us, faith is what honors God and invites Him to move. Like Barbara Snyder rising from her sickbed or Moses raising his staff, faith positions us to see the miraculous. Will you give your faith back to God today? Take that next step of obedience, no matter how daunting. Offer Him trust instead of fear, movement instead of paralysis, and expectation instead of doubt.
Prayer:
Lord, thank You for the gift of faith. Today, I give it back to You. I confess the places where fear has ruled my heart and where unbelief has limited my steps. Strengthen me to walk forward into the unknown, believing You will part the waters before me. Stir in me a mustard-seed faith that trusts Your power to heal, restore, and deliver. May my faith be my gift of worship, pleasing to You and a testimony to others that You are the God who still works wonders. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
[1] Craig S. Keener, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts (Baker Academic, 2011), pp. 502–506.
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1 Comment
I often hear that missionaries in foreign lands see more miracles of God, because of the dependence of the people on faith alone, than we find in America. They often do not have the medical wonders found here. We are too often more dependent on medicine and doctors than on God’s miraculous deeds. God offers us both medicine and miracles. But in the end The Great Physician is the ultimate healer!