569 Have Faith in God, Really! - Mark 11:22

Welcome back to the Follower of One podcast. This is our 569th episode. Thank you so much for listening and for joining us. I'm your host, Mike Henry Sr. And today I want to talk a little bit about how we have faith in God and how we're challenged to really have faith in God. 

I'm reading from Mark chapter 11, verses 21 and 22: "Being reminded, Peter said to him, 'Rabbi, look, the fig tree, which you cursed has withered.' And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God.'"

Jesus goes on to talk about prayer and we will talk about that in the next episode, but the foundation for everything, the foundation for what Jesus has done, the foundation of our reaction to the things that happen in and around the world around us, and the basis for our prayer, all hinge on this statement "Have faith in God." Our belief and our trust and our faith in God Almighty is what brings everything together. We can trust Jesus, even when strange things happen, like the fig tree that Jesus cursed withered in a day. And it withered from the roots up.

This was fast. It wasn't slow. Yes they expected that treat and never have figs again. But Peter, I don't think expected it to happen in a day. The thing was just dead as a doornail in a day. And he was surprised. "Look, the tree, which you cursed has withered." I believe he was surprised. I believe he fully expected the tree to die. He didn't expect it to happen that quickly. 

And Jesus reminded him that faith in God is a response to everything that happens. Faith in God is our response when things go badly. Faith in God is our response when things go well. If we trust God and we trust that he's really in control, then can we trust him when these seemingly bad things happen?

That's a challenge in our day. Many people today want to judge God, they want to say, "Well, why would God allow this? Or why would God allow that?" And Jesus' answer I believe is right here in this verse: "Have faith in God." It's his world and he's working his plan. Do we trust who he is? Do we trust what he says?

Are we willing to learn about him more and know him more and have faith in him? Or will we be the judge? Will we decide to judge God? 

One day we will all be judged and we will have an opportunity to give an account for our actions and our life. And there won't be anything for us to say. I believe when we confront God, we will be so blown away, we will be speechless and scared - that God has masked himself in such a way to give us the freedom to choose and the freedom to believe. He's made it possible for us to have faith in him, but he hasn't made it impossible for us to not have faith in him.

I believe when we see him, it will be impossible for us to fail to understand who God is and what his power is. 

Today. I want to challenge us as we go into the workplace. Let's have faith in God. If bad things happen today, if things happen that you weren't expecting or that you weren't looking forward to trusting God. Let's make "Have faith in God," our mantra today. Let's make that our story. I want to have faith in God, no matter what happens in my circumstances today. And because of that, I want to be in a position to be a blessing to the people around me. I want to look for opportunities to bless other people and serve other people because I know that everything that happens has been ordained. It's been allowed by God almighty and it will work together for his glory, as it says in Romans 8:28. 

Thank you for being a marketplace minister. Thank you for listening to this podcast. Please share it with one other friend and ask them today to help you have faith in God to trust him no matter what happens and to be a blessing to the people that you work with. 

And check us out, check out our community Follower of One. You can learn more about us at https://followerofone.org. Thanks very much.