Standing Strong |
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Isaiah 11:6 2 Thessalonians 2:15 |
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Belief, Faith, and Trust |
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Do you believe? Do you have Faith? Do you have Trust? Believe in the L-rd and you will be saved! How many times have people heard such questions and such statements. Aren’t Belief, Faith, and Trust all interchangeable? And do we only need to believe to be saved? This week we will look at this through the torah portion. Genesis Chapters 37-40.
I have looked at the character of Rueben and Judah in the story of Joseph before and found good things there but for some reason this year what jumped out at me was a similarity of situation between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and Joseph while serving in Potiphar’s household. Both appear to have everything they could need as far as shelter, satisfying work, food… but both had one thing withheld from them. For Adam and Eve it was to not eat from the tree of knowledge. For Joseph it was Potiphar’s wife. In Joseph’s own words, “Look – with me here, my master concerns himself about nothing in the house, and whatever he has he placed in my custody. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has denied me nothing by you, since you are his wife, how then can I perpetrate this great evil and have sinned against G-d!” (Gen 38: 8-9) Yet when tempted by the one thing that was not available to them Adam and Eve succumbed and Joseph did not.
Interesting, but what does this have to do with Belief, Faith, and Trust? Both Adam and Joseph believe in G-d. Is that enough? “Just believe and you will be saved”. BUNK! Belief is nothing more than acknowledgement of that which is not fully seen. Satan believes in G-d and Yeshua, but is he saved? Belief alone is not enough. So what is faith? Faith is acting upon a belief. Abraham in the Akeidah acts upon his belief in faith and it is counted to him as righteousness. The man on the cross professed Yeshua as Messiah and Yeshua said he would see Him in paradise. To act upon faith through profession or action brings reward. It is a deeper thing than belief. Adam obviously had belief in G-d but he did not act in accordance with G-d’s instruction showing a lack of faith, albeit deceived by Satan. Joseph however fled from temptation, leaving his cloak behind. Yet we see Joseph ending up in prison for his proper action of faith. Where is his reward for acting in faith? Ah, here is where we find trust. Trust is accepting that the outcomes of proper actions of faith will result in G-d’s will for us regardless of how things seem from our perspective. When Joseph was in prison, he had plenty of opportunity to curse G-d or at least complain about him not getting the proper reward from G-d for his refusing to give in to Potiphar’s wife. But, Joseph shows trust in knowing G-d is still in control despite the outward appearances. For if Joseph had not been in prison, how would he have risen to viceroy of all Egypt under pharaoh, a position from which he was able to save the Egyptians from the drought and bring reconciliation between himself and his brothers? This acceptance is deeper than belief, deeper than faith: this is trust. Our walk in the L-rd must be one of growth, from belief, through faith, and ending in trust. Let Joseph be a model to emulate.
Selah |