When we talk about having faith in God, what does that mean. What are the components of absolute faith? I am not a Bible scholar, I am just a person who has experienced the grace of God. So, in this post, I would like to talk about what I see as the parts of absolute faith.
In my Sept. 27th post, "Dorothy with the Sparkling Blue Eyes" in the testimonies section, I explain that my mentor Dorothy spoke to me about absolute faith. She said that oftentimes Christians pray, even pray earnestly, and then speak defeat or try to take things back into their own hands rather than waiting for God to take care of things in His perfect timing. This behavior negates their prayers.
So, from my perspective, one of the components of absolute faith is trusting God. Trusting, even when circumstances seem daunting, even when the solution is a long time in coming, even when we don't understand. Trusting that God has a plan for us that is for good and not for evil (Jeremiah 29:11) and that He will see it come to pass, if we let Him, because His word does not come back void (Isaiah 55:11 "So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.").
Another aspect of absolute faith is believing that God has the power to change circumstances. One example of this is in Luke 7:6-10. To set the stage, a centurion had requested that Jesus heal his slave. "Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes; and to another 'Come!' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it. Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health."
The centurion understood chain of command; that when the person with the top authority gives an order, all those under him fulfill it. Who has more authority than God, Himself, who created all that is? No one. Therefore, we can trust and believe that when God is involved, He will get things done according to His purpose.
One thing that I have struggled with in my life is thinking that I know what is best for myself and others. This is contrary to absolute faith. Natalie Grant has a great song that addresses this issue. It is called "King of the World." Copy and paste the link below to listen and read the lyrics.
In essence, it talks about how we try to make God who we want Him to be rather than remembering that He is the King of the World and we are not.
Where are you on your journey toward having absolute faith? If you want to grow in that area, just ask the Lord and He will help you. Remember, Jesus said that He would ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit to be your comfort, your guide, your counselor, one who leads you in all the truth. Don't hesitate to ask. God wants a relationship with you and will always help you. You can trust and believe that.
It was always one of my most challenging lessons, as well. Without fail, God has always known better than I, has always had a plan more comprehensive than my own, and has always implemented that greater plan in absolute perfect timing, in spite of my fears, frustrations, and impatience.