Henry Blackaby writes, “A crisis of belief is not a calamity in your life but a turning point where you must make a decision. You must decide what you truly believe about God.” We all face opportunities to increase in faith. The problem is that often those moments don’t feel like opportunities at all. They are times when we must grow, when we must believe, when we must step out and trust that God will go before us, that He will step with us and that He will carry us every moment of the journey. These moments can be scary at first simply because they are new. They often take us completely out of our comfort zone and even test our belief system.
In II Kings 5, Naaman was given the opportunity to be healed of his leprosy. The problem was that the way that Elisha told him to be healed was not at all what he had prepared himself for or expected. When Naaman arrived at Elisha’s house the prophet did not even come out to see him, he sent a servant with simple instructions, “Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River and you will be healed.” Naaman was angry, more than that he was irate. He had prepared himself for Elisha to come and meet him, for the great prophet to wave his hands and pray a prayer of faith that wold produce healing. He was willing to believe for his healing in that way, but to go and wash in the Jordan River, that he was not prepared for.
How do we respond when God’s plans are different than ours? When God’s methods or commands don’t match our preparation? This is when the crisis of belief comes into play, will we obey, will we trust, even when we feel insecure, inferior or unsure of the method? Our true faith is told by our obedience, if I can obey God, even when I’m unsure, even when I’m scared, even when I am sure that I am not capable, then I know that my faith is not merely found in my words but it is secure in my heart. I pray today that we would all face these crisis’ of belief head on, that we would challenge ourselves to believe and that we would trust God to be as faithful as He has promised to be. He is good and His ways are perfect, trust Him to lead you in paths of righteousness, for His name’s sake.