In basketball, what the coach tells the players to do isn’t a suggestion. It’s a command. It’s an order. The coach wants the players to do it. Or at least try to do it. There’s no question. I remember being a player and wanting to hear the coach tell me to do something. Obviously, not if I messed up. That usually meant I was going to be running. But working on shooting form. Working on dribble skills. Working on defense. All things that I wanted to get better at. And I had “Faith” in my coach. Especially Coach Armstrong. I had faith that he was teaching me correctly. Showing me the right way. I didn’t question him. Or at least I tried to not question him. And I bet this is all very similar to soldiers. Officers give orders. Not suggestions. And they want their orders followed.
The same can be said about our Lord and Savior. We should have faith in him. We should have faith that his word is correct. We should have faith that his word is perfect. Having faith is our way of obeying God. Just as a coach in basketball gives commands, so does God. And his commands are for our good. Because God knows what is best for us. Even when we want to question it. And I know that most of us, if not all of us, have questioned God at some point. I know that I have. Several times. I’m not proud of it. Especially the times that I intentionally questioned him. It’s easy for us to question him when he’s telling us to do something that is out of our comfort zone. Like witnessing to family. That’s a hard one. And it’s also easier for us to accept what he is telling us when we feel like it’s what we want.
Something that’s pretty cool about us having faith in God’s word is how much more intimate we become with him. We grow closer to him. And when we do that, we will begin to believe in him more. Believe his word more. Believe that he knows what is best for us. This is not gonna be easy all the time. In fact, it might be very difficult. But it’s doable. And it’s something that we should strive to do. If you find yourself having a hard time having faith in God, work on drawing yourself closer to him. Working on letting him take control. Work on responding to him when he is giving you clear direction. When he is convicting you. And I want to remind you of one more very important thing for us to remember. We are free from sin because of God. We are free from the power of sin because of him. And I believe that having faith in God is another way of us, thanking him for providing us the pathway to this freedom.
