Jan 23, 2019 - Suggested Reading Isaiah 7 for Jan 27th s message on Matthew 9:18-38 in our worship service at 10:45am

“The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’”

Isaiah 7:9 (NIV)

Matthew’s record in chapter 9 of our Lord healing the blind men makes it very clear that if the blind men are faking their faith, pretending as it were to believe in Jesus, they would not be healed. The stakes are pretty high for these men - and I wonder if we can think of a situation in our lives where if we can’t muster real faith, a disaster awaits.

Isaiah 7 records such a time in king Ahaz’s life, where he is told by Isaiah that if he doesn’t stand in his faith, he won’t stand at all! The issue is humans- threatening powerful humans- and Ahaz is thinking that he needs powerful humans on his side. Isaiah’s Word is powerful in itself - Stand firm in your faith! - you don’t need human help – you need God’s help - and God’s help comes to us through faith. Faith is the conduit through which God’s grace flows into our lives. It isn’t a matter of saying the right words, or singing the right songs - it is a matter of the heart and the mind as we look to God and God alone as our deliverer, believing in our innermost being that He and only He is able to help us in our situation. Not testing God with demands but  surrendering the outcome to God, and to His good and perfect will. Not being fatalistic which many times we think shows faith, but pressing into God with the desires He has placed on our hearts yearning to see Him glorified through us and our time here on earth.

I think of another king recorded in 2 Kings 13, who visited Elisha on Elisha’s deathbed - yes a man of God with real faith is lying on a bed dying! Elisha wants the king to demonstrate real faith by striking the ground with arrows, and rebukes the king for his lacklustre approach to God for victory. Friend when those moments come to us - those moments where if we don’t stand in our faith we won’t stand at all- may God help us to approach Him with confidence and vigour, seeking His grace to help us in our time of need.