Fall Back into Faith

March 21, 2020

Here’s a thought for the day …

Psalm 91:15 – I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.

Chances are you have either seen or have been a part of a “faith fall” before.  It’s a simple, but powerful illustration of what it means to put your faith in someone.  How it works is pretty simple.  Using two people, one person stands directly behind another person.  The person in the front is asked to fall backwards into the arms of the person behind them.  It’s a test of whether or not they have faith that the other person will actually catch them.  I like to put a little twist on it.

What I like to do is have the person who will be falling backwards be blindfolded.  After all, faith is the evidence of what we can’t see.  I would stand behind them and tell them that they could trust me.  Then, as I’m talking to them, I would move from behind them to in front of them.  Keep in mind they can’t see me, but they know from my voice that I’m no longer behind them.  Then I tell them to fall backwards.  Now … what is interesting is that I always get the same response from the people who are blindfolded.  They begin to turn their backs towards the direction of my voice.  I quickly tell them to stay still and fall backwards.  Their response … “But you moved from behind me!  Who will catch me?”  Now what they didn’t know because they couldn’t see was that while I was moving from behind them to in front of them, I quietly positioned someone else behind them to take my place and catch them.  They couldn’t see it.  They had to trust me.  And that’s the power of faith.  

You can’t always rely on circumstances to reinforce your faith.  You have to rely on the character of the one you’re placing your faith in.

In today’s reading from Psalm 91, the Lord says, “I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.”  Notice anything interesting about this verse.  

I AM is saying I WILL.

If you walk with the Lord long enough, and by that, I mean more than 5 minutes, you will learn that it has many similarities to the “faith fall” illustration.  Often God can be hard to see.  Often it seems like He’s moved from where you thought He was to someplace new.  As we are walking through this coronavirus pandemic, you’ve probably asked the question, “Where are you God?”  Can I let you in on a secret, God doesn’t always reveal His plans to you.  Often He just reveals His heart and says, “Trust Me.”   As Often as His voice seems to move and His leading seems to not make sense, we are left with one simple decision.  Choosing to trust His character or choosing to trust our senses.  

Here’s a powerful exercise.  Put your name in front of each of the “I Wills” in Psalm 91:15.  “Wayne … I WILL be with you in trouble!”  “Wayne … I WILL deliver you!”  “Wayne … I WILL honor you!”

When you personalize the promises of God it becomes exponentially more powerful.

Can I encourage you to fall back into God by faith?  Don’t let circumstances trick you into thinking that God has stopped by faithful.  

God can’t help but be faithful!  It’s who He is!

Don’t let your understanding cause you to question God’s character.  Don’t let your fear of not having it all figured out cause you to miss obeying His voice and experiencing His faithfulness.  I get it, it’s hard when you can’t see a way out.  But then who said walking with God was easy?  Comfortable?  Predictable?  Without challenges?  

God loves to honor faith.  Just look at Jesus.  You know what continually made Him take a step back in amazement?  When people exercised great faith.  It’s as if it brought a deep, divine sense of satisfaction expressed in a big smile from ear to ear every time someone choose to believe Him by faith.  How is the Awesome God filled with awe.  When we fall back in faith.  Fall back into His presence.  Fall back into His deliverance.  Fall back into His love.  It’s in your court now.  What are you going to do?