ICS Daily Devotions
Conquering Through Faith And Patience
Matthew 14:25-33 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
Real battles in times of difficulties are in the believer’s mind. The devil will try his very best to shift our focus from God and His Word towards our circumstances. He puts fear into us by making us look at the negatives and the worst outcomes. Processing the negatives through what we see, feel, and hear will cause us to be afraid and lose our peace. It causes us to take things into our own hands and thus never see the breakthrough that God has prepared for us.
Many times what affects us is impatience and pride. Impatience causes us to desire immediate results and thus there is no time to seek God. Pride, on the other hand, lures us to look at the circumstances through our own knowledge.
What we need is faith and patience. First see and understand what your trial is. Then pray the promise or word of assurance from God. Plead your case if you can find a word to justify your case. Then patiently wait for the promise or the Word to come to pass.
Mark 4:26-29 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, “and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. “For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. “But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Just like how a farmer needs to wait patiently for his yield once he has sown, we must wait, too. The Word of God is the seed and it will yield the crop at the right time. While we are in the waiting process for the Word to come to pass, it is important to practice the Word of God.
Isaiah 26:3-4 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.
While waiting for God’s promise to come to pass, if we do not dwell in His Word, we will wear out easily. Keeping ourselves in the Word will help us to draw God’s strength for the situation.
Hebrews 6:12-15 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
Abraham had a word from God that He will have a son. It was through faith and patience that he inherited the promise. He refused to be moved by circumstances and facts. He was not moved by anything! Hence he became the father of faith. He chose to stand on the Word. After he had patiently waited, he obtained the promise.
Let us not give up on our battles by looking at the circumstances and taking things in our own hands with our own understanding. Through patient waiting in faith, we are called to be conquerors of every situation.
Sermon Series: God’s Wisdom
