Faith is trusting God--believing that He loves us and knows best what is for our good. Thus it leads us to choose His way instead of our own. In place of our ignorance, it accepts His wisdom; in place of our weakness, His strength; in place of our sinfulness, His righteousness. Our lives are already His; faith acknowledges His ownership and accepts its blessing. Truth, uprightness, purity, have been pointed out as secrets of life's success. Faith puts us in possession of these principles.
Every good impulse or aspiration is the gift of God. Faith receives from God the life that alone can produce true growth and efficiency.
Make very plain how to exercise faith. To every promise of God there are conditions. If we are willing to do His will, all His strength is ours. Whatever gift He promises is in the promise itself. "The seed is the word of God." Luke 8:11. As surely as the oak is in the acorn, so surely is the gift of God in His promise. If we receive the promise, we have the gift.
Faith that enables us to receive God's gifts is itself a gift, of which some measure is imparted to every human being. It grows as it is exercised in appropriating the Word of God. In order to strengthen faith, we must often bring it into contact with the Word.
In the study of the Bible the student should be led to see the power of God's word. In the creation, "He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." He "calls those things which do not exist as though they did" (Psalm 33:9; Romans 4:17), for when He calls them, they are.
The World's True Nobility
How often those who trusted the word of God have withstood the power of the whole world--Enoch, holding fast his faith in the triumph of righteousness against a corrupt and scoffing generation; Noah and his household against people of his time, men and women of the greatest physical and mental strength and the most debased in morals; the children of Israel at the Red Sea, a helpless, terrified multitude of slaves, against the mightiest army of the mightiest nation on the globe; David, a shepherd boy, having God's promise of the throne, against Saul, the established monarch, determined to hold fast his power; Shadrach and his companions in the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar on the throne; Daniel among the lions, his enemies in the high places of the kingdom; Jesus on the cross, and the Jewish priests and rulers forcing even the Roman governor to work their will; Paul in chains led to a criminal's death, Nero the despot of a world empire.
Such examples are found not only in the Bible but abound in every record of human progress. The Vaudois and the Huguenots, Wycliffe and Huss, Jerome and Luther, Tyndale and Knox, Zinzendorf and Wesley, with multitudes of others, have witnessed to the power of God's word against human power and policy in support of evil. These are the world's true nobility. This is its royal line. In this line young people of today are called to take their places.
Faith is needed in the smaller no less than in the greater experiences of life. In all our daily interests and occupations the sustaining strength of God becomes real to us through an abiding trust.
Viewed from its human side, life is an untried path. In regard to our deeper experiences, we each walk alone. Into our inner life no other human being can fully enter. As little children set forth on that journey, how earnest should be the effort to direct their trust to the sure Guide and Helper!
As a shield from temptation and an inspiration to purity and truth, no other influence can equal the sense of God's presence. "All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." He is "of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness." Hebrews 4:13; Habakkuk 1:13. This thought was Joseph's shield amidst the corruptions of Egypt. To the allurements of temptation his answer was steadfast: "How ... can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Genesis 39:9. Faith, if cherished, will provide that shield to every soul.
Only the sense of God's presence can banish the fear that, for timid children, would make life a burden. Help them to fix in memory the promise, "The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them." Psalm 34:7. Have them read that wonderful story of Elisha in the mountain city, with a mighty encircling band of heavenly angels between him and the hosts of armed men. Tell them how God's angel appeared to Peter, in prison and condemned to death; how, past the armed guards, the massive doors and great iron gateway with their bolts and bars, the angel led God's servant forth in safety.
Picture for them that scene on the sea, when Paul the prisoner, on his way to trial and execution, spoke those grand words of courage and hope: "I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you. ... For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and, indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you.'" So, because there was in that ship one man through whom God could work, the whole shipload of heathen soldiers and sailors was preserved. "They all escaped safely to land." Acts 27:22-24, 44.
These things were written not merely that we might read and wonder, but that the same faith which worked in God's servants of old might work in us. In no less marked a manner than He worked then will He work now wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power. Teach the self-distrustful, whose lack of self-reliance leads them to shrink from care and responsibility, to rely upon God. Thus many a person who otherwise would be but a cipher in the world, perhaps only a helpless burden, will be able to say with the apostle Paul, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13.
God Is the Guardian of Right
For the child who is quick to resent injuries, faith has precious lessons. The disposition to resist evil or to avenge wrong is often prompted by a keen sense of justice and an active, energetic spirit. Children should be taught that God is the eternal guardian of right. He has a tender care for the beings whom He so loved as to give His dearest Beloved to save. He will deal with every wrongdoer.
"He who touches you touches the apple of His eye." Zechariah 2:8. "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. ... He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday." Psalm 37:5, 6.
"Those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." Psalm 9:10.
The compassion that God manifests toward us, He tells us to manifest toward others. Encourage the impulsive, the self-sufficient, the revengeful, to behold the meek and lowly One, led as a lamb to the slaughter, unretaliating as a sheep before its shearers. Point them to Him whom our sins have pierced and our sorrows burdened, and they will learn to endure, to forbear, and to forgive.
Through faith in Christ every deficiency of character may be supplied, every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence developed.
"You are complete in Him." Colossians 2:10.
Prayer and faith are closely allied, and they need to be studied together. In the prayer of faith there is a divine science, a science that everyone who would make his or her lifework a success must understand. Christ says, "Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." Mark 11:24. He makes it plain that our asking must be according to God's will. We must ask for the things He has promised, and whatever we receive must be used in doing His will. When the conditions have been met, the promise is unequivocal.
For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift He has promised, we may ask; then we are to believe that we receive, and thank God that we have received. The gift is in the promise, and we may go about our work assured that the gift, which we already possess, will be realized when we need it most.
Prayer a Necessity
To live thus by the Word of God means the surrender to Him of the whole life. We will feel a continual sense of need and dependence, a drawing out of the heart after God. Prayer is a necessity, for it is the life of the soul. Family prayer, public prayer, have their place, but it is secret communion with God that sustains the soul life.
In the mount with God Moses saw the pattern of that wonderful building which was to be the abiding place of His glory. It is in the mount with God--in the secret place of communion--that we are to contemplate His glorious ideal for humanity. Thus we shall be enabled so to fashion our character building that to us may be fulfilled His promise, "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people." 2 Corinthians 6:16.
It was in hours of solitary prayer that Jesus received wisdom and power. Encourage the young to follow His example in finding at dawn and twilight a quiet season for communion with their Father in heaven. And throughout the day let them lift up their hearts to God. At every step of our way He says, "I the Lord your God will hold your right hand, ... Fear not, I will help you." Isaiah 41:13.
These are lessons that only people who have learned them can teach. It is because so many parents and teachers profess to believe the Word of God while their lives deny its power, that the teaching of Scripture has no greater effect on children and youth. It is one thing to treat the Bible as a book of good moral instruction, to be followed so far as is consistent with the spirit of the times and our position in the world, it is another thing to regard it as it really is--the Word of the living God, the Word that is our life, the Word that is to mold our actions, our words, and our thoughts. To hold God's Word as anything less than this is to reject it. And this rejection by those who profess to believe it, is foremost among the causes of skepticism and infidelity in today's youth.
Take Time With God
Unprecedented intensity is taking possession of the world. In amusement, in moneymaking, in the contest for power, in the very struggle for existence, there is a terrible force that engrosses body and mind and soul. In the midst of this maddening rush, God is speaking. He invites us to come apart and commune with Him. "Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10.
Many, even in their seasons of devotion, fail to receive the blessing of real communion with God. They are in too great haste. With hurried steps they press through the circle of Christ's loving presence, pausing perhaps a moment within the sacred precincts, but not waiting for counsel. They have no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their burdens they return to their work.
These workers can never attain the highest success until they learn the secret of strength. They must give themselves time to think, to pray, to wait upon God for a renewal of physical, mental, and spiritual power. They need the uplifting influence of His Spirit. Receiving this, they will be quickened by fresh life. The wearied frame and tired brain will be refreshed, the burdened heart lightened.
Not just a pause for a moment in His presence, but personal contact with Christ--sitting down in companionship with Him--this is our need. What a great day it will be for the children of our homes and the students of our schools when parents and teachers learn in their own lives the precious experience pictured in these words by Solomon: "Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love." Song of Solomon 2:3, 4.