It's about faith

By Rebecca Vickery

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.  Romans 10:17
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.  Hebrews 11:1

It is by grace you have been saved, through faith; and this is not from yourselves; it is a gift of God, not by works, that none may boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9

Have you ever gotten into a discussion with someone who had lots of questions and regardless of how many answers you had, your answers, although satisfactory to you were not satisfactory at all to them?  The disconnect is real, and it can feel like you’re going back and forth with no meaningful progress.  It might feel like you’re speaking in different languages.  Unsettling tension can pervade. 

The bible says as believers “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) It might feel like it is our job to keep making a case for God and Christianity.  After all, it also says in 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect….”  As you feel a conversation devolving and you realize that there’s not common ground to be had, it is important to pause and not get caught up in foolish arguments.  

The Amplified version of the Bible puts it this way:  “But have nothing to do with foolish and ignorant speculations [useless disputes over unedifying, stupid controversies], since you know that they produce strife and give birth to quarrels. The servant of the Lord must not participate in quarrels, but must be kind to everyone [even-tempered, preserving peace, and he must be], skilled in teaching, patient and tolerant when wronged. He must correct those who are in opposition with courtesy and gentleness in the hope that God may grant that they will repent and be led to the knowledge of the truth [accurately understanding and welcoming it],  and that they may come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”  2 Timothy 2:23-26

In verse 25, it says we are to have hope that GOD may grant them repentance and lead them to the knowledge of the truth.  We know that it is His kindness that leads to repentance.  (Romans 2:4) None of us would believe in Him apart from the faith that comes from God.  Before we answered the call to follow after Jesus, we were darkened in our understanding.  We lived by the flesh, and not by faith.  It says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Christ), and that faith is a gift of God.  No matter how much we might want to argue someone into faith, this is not possible.  We can share God’s Word with them, and we can pray for God to do a work in them.  But we cannot manufacture faith in another person.  

It can be heartbreaking to converse with people who declare for themselves that they don’t believe in God.  It feels like a situation without hope, until we remember that we once were without hope ourselves.  
Before I became a believer, we had a tenant in our apartment on the side of our house named Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was a sweet elderly woman who I used to visit on a regular basis.  I don’t remember Elizabeth talking to me about God, but what I learned about Elizabeth is that from the time I first started visiting with her, she started praying for me.  I didn’t learn about this until after I returned from the Czech Republic as a new believer in Jesus Christ.  Before I met Elizabeth, someone in my school shared a Bible Tract with me (with a gospel message contained inside).  Upon receiving this good news, I laughed at the person who gave it to me, crumbled it up and threw it behind a fire extinguisher.  That was me.  I believe that Elizabeth’s prayers meant the difference between life and death.  Elizabeth rejoiced with me when I told her about my travels and how I had found Jesus.  She told me how she had been praying for me on my journey.  

In the Bible it says the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. While it is not my job to produce faith in another person, it is my privilege to pray that God will open the eyes of their hearts, that He would demolish strongholds, that He would free them from the slavery of sin, that He would restore sight to the spiritually blind, that He would open their hearts to respond to the gospel.  What a wonderful thing it will be when we can behold the ripples of people who believe in part because of our prayers.  And then those who will believe on account of their prayers.  And so on.  

Our battle is not against the people who argue against us, but the spiritual forces of darkness that would love to keep them blind until their dying days.  Prayer and fasting can move mountains that our own strength has no power to cast aside.  Our love and acceptance can remind them of the love that God has for them, even when they are prickly and unreasonable.  Remembering how prickly and unreasonable we were before we believed can also help us to stay humble in the midst of our interactions. Being an ambassador of reconciliation is not an easy task, but with God on our side, we can be light and love to a world that is broken and in need of His care.

Lord, please make me to be a good Ambassador for your love to those around me.  Let me not get caught up in arguments that increase strife or division.  Let me instead be light and love as I return to you often to refill my heart with your love for me and others.  Make me a witness of your faithfulness and your goodness in my life as I depend on you for all things.  Forgive me when I fall short, and help me to be humble as I go about the difficulties of being an ambassador for reconciliation.  For your glory.  For your Kingdom!  In Jesus’ Name. 
Amen.