God's invitation leads to a crisis of belief

There is a common theme running through many parts of the Bible. A theme that shows the challenges of faith and obedience when God speaks to us, and when God calls us to follow him.

What we find as we read these incidents is that when God calls someone to do something, or when God makes a promise to someone about what God is going to do; when this person hears God's call or God's promise, that individual starts to question what God has to say and then they try to tell God that what God wants or plans is either impossible or foolish.

But even though people question what God has said or promised, we then read that God assures the individual that not only can God do what he says, but also that God will do what he says.

Finally, we read that the individual concerned follows God in his plans. They go where God sends. They say what God demands, they accomplish God's purposes, and through all of this, as they respond in obedience and faith to the commands and the promises of God, they come to know God better.

But the underlying human question behind each of these events is the one question that we all need the answer to:

Can I trust God to do what God says he will do?

As we have been looking at the topic of "knowing and doing the will of God", we have come to realise that God is always at work around us drawing people to faith in Christ and accomplishing his purposes. God is, and God always will be, at work in the world.

We know that God loves us, and he has proven just how much he loves us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Further, we have come to realise that what God truly wants from us is that we willingly love him in return. God desires a genuine relationship with us based on love, not obligation.

We also know that God speaks to us by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to make himself, his will, and his ways known to us. God has not left us in the dark, instead, God speaks to let us know what God is doing and what God longs to do. Then, when God speaks to us, that is God’s invitation to us to join him in his great work, whatever that particular work happens to be.

But even in the face of all of that, deep down, before any of us actually makes a move to respond to God's invitation, we need the answer to that one, great question:

• Can God really do what he says he will do?

• Can God really use me to accomplish his purposes?

• If I take this step of faith and obedience to the calling of God, can I trust God to bring his purposes about, or is God going to leave me hanging?

Some people have called this question a "crisis of belief".[1] Not that we don't believe in God. Not that we don't believe in the salvation that God has provided through Christ. Not that we aren't continuing to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. But a "crisis of belief" that asks:

Can I trust God in this situation to do in me, and through me, what God said he was going to do?

Why is this question so important? Because when God speaks to us, in whatever way God speaks, when God reveals his will to us, and when God invites us to join him in his work, God is also calling us to take a step of faith.

• A step of faith to launch out in a new direction.

• A step of faith to take on new or added responsibilities.

• A step of faith to go where we have never gone.

• To do what we have never done.

• To be what we have never been.

• To speak what we have never said.

• To serve where we have never served.

When God speaks and calls us to a new task, what this means is that he has called us to step out into what is, for us, the great unknown, and so it is vital for us to know:

If I follow God's direction in this area, can I really trust God to do what he says he will do, or will I find myself out in the middle of nowhere - lost, abandoned, and alone?

What I would like us to do this morning is to look at just part of what the Bible says about this, and as we look at what the Bible says we will see that this question "can I trust God", is often on the lips of those God calls to himself. It is often on the lips of those God calls to join him in his work. Therefore, when God calls you to join in his work and you have doubts, concerns, and worries about it . . . then you are in some pretty good company!

In Genesis 18 we find that Sara faced this question when three men appeared to Abraham. We read that:

[Abraham] looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground.

Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?”

The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.”[2]

Of course Sarah wasn’t the only one to laugh at God’s promise, for we read in Genesis 17:16-17 where God had said to Abraham:

I will bless [Sarah], and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Both Sarah and Abraham realised the impossibility of what God had promised. Sarah was ninety years old. Abraham was one hundred. They both laughed at God's promise that they would have a son together. But when they laughed, what they were really saying is:

Can even God do such a miraculous thing?

For both Sarah and Abraham, God's promise was a crisis of belief. A crisis of belief that questioned God's ability to do what God had promised to do.

In Exodus 3 we read about when God spoke to Moses through a burning bush and said:

“I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, . . . The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?[3]

Moses' question was about how God could possibly use him. “I'm a nobody. I failed the first time I tried to help an Israelite and ended up looking after sheep for forty years. I have no skills. No abilities. No gifts. It’s a great idea, but send somebody else!” But Moses' ultimate question was, "God, how could you use someone like me?"

Deep down, Moses questioned God's ability to do through Moses, what God had said he was going to do.

In Jeremiah 32 we read how the city of Jerusalem was surrounded by the Babylonian army. God had already revealed to Jeremiah that Jerusalem would be captured, the temple would be destroyed, and the people that survived would be carried off to Babylon as prisoners. But God tells Jeremiah to purchase land, and God tells him that houses will be built and the land will be settled. We read:

The word of the LORD came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.” Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver.

Then Jeremiah prayed:

“See, the siege-ramps have been cast up against the city to take it, and the city, faced with sword, famine, and pestilence, has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has happened, as you yourself can see. Yet you, O Lord GOD, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans”

Jeremiah’s prayer is, basically, “God, look at our circumstances! What you say is impossible!”

But what happened next?

The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: See, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me?"[4]

In Luke 1, we read about a young woman named Mary, and how:

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.”

Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. For nothing will be impossible with God.”[5]

Mary's question was legitimate, after all, it was simple biology. But what was happening is that Mary was being called upon to go beyond what she knew, and, like Abraham and Sarah before her, to go beyond the evidence of her eyes. Instead, she was called upon to trust God, to depend on God, and to see what God would do.

Luke 5:4-6 says:

When [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.

We read about Gideon in Judges 6:14-15:

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.”

He responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

How did God answer?

I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.[6]

This is just a sample of the many, many, times in the Bible where people heard the voice of God, they heard God telling them what God was going to do, but when they heard the voice of God they questioned "how" could this be? How is this able to happen? Who am I to do this? God, are you really sure about this?

But in each incident, each of these individuals had the same basic question:

Can I trust God to accomplish through me what God said he would do? Is God strong enough, powerful enough, wise enough, great enough to do this thing that he has revealed to me?

But as we read these incidents, what do each of these incidents have in common?

In each one God gave a command about what he wanted the person to do, or God made a promise about what he was going to do in, through, or for that person.

We then find that the person involved questioned what God had said: I'm too old. I'm too weak. I'm too experienced as a fisherman. I’m unmarried!

God then responded with a statement of his power.

Nothing is too hard for me.

Nothing is impossible with God.

Finally, the person acted on the promise or command of God, except for Jeremiah where Jeremiah acted first, and questioned God later.

But as we read the account of Gideon, we find that Gideon questioned God's ability to accomplish his work not once, but several times. The entire incident in Judges 6 where Gideon puts out a fleece, not once, but twice, both of these were Gideon questioning whether or not God was able to do what he had said he would do. They were Gideon's way of saying to God, "prove it"! They were Gideon wanting assurance that God could accomplish the task that he was sending Gideon on. We read in Judges 6:36-40:

Gideon said to God, “In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.”

And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.”

And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Why did Gideon have to test God, not once but twice? Because Gideon wasn't sure if God could do what he said he was going to do. Gideon wasn't sure if God was able to accomplish the mission that God was sending him on. Gideon was facing a "crisis of belief".

Can I truly trust God in this matter?

That is a massively important question, because if we don't trust God, if we don't think that God is reliable enough, strong enough, wise enough, powerful enough to do the things that he said he was going to do, then we will not follow him. We will not obey him.

This is why Sarah was told in Genesis 18:14:

Is anything too wonderful for the LORD?

This is why Jeremiah was told in Jeremiah 32:27:

Is anything too hard for me?

This is why Mary was told in Luke 1:37:

Nothing will be impossible with God.

This is why on one occasion a fleece was dry while the ground was wet, while on another occasion a fleece was wet while the ground was dry.

All of these things were said and done so that these individuals who were struggling with their faith in the power of God to accomplish his purposes could have full assurance that God would do what God said he would do.

And because God would do what he said, they could then take a step of faith and obedience and accomplish the task that God set for them.

This is why Jesus, when he was talking to his disciples about the importance of faith, the importance of trust in God, Jesus said to his disciples that if they simply trust in God, then:

nothing will be impossible for you.[7]

Nothing will be impossible. Not because you, in yourselves have any power, but because as you look to God, hear his voice, and respond in faith, as you respond in obedience to the call of God, to the invitation of God to join him in his work, God will work in you, and God will accomplish his purposes in the world through you.

Because it is God's purpose, and because it is God's work, and because it is God's call, it is possible, for with God nothing is impossible. God with us will do it.

Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.

But how did Jesus then close the Great Commission?

I am with you always, to the end of the age!

The Great Commission is the task of Christ, and Jesus has called us, he has invited us to get involved in his great task, and we can have confidence as we share the Gospel, not because we are great evangelists, but we can have confidence because Jesus said:

I am with you always, to the end of the age!

What did God say to Moses when Moses questioned if he could do what God called him to do? God said in Exodus 3:12:

I will be with you.

What was God's promise to Joshua after God called him to lead the people into the promised land?

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.[8]

It was faith in the promises, the command, the plan, the purposes of God that gave them victory, when, at that point of questioning "can I trust God?", they took a step of faith and obedience and walked with God.

And so, in Judges 7, it didn't matter how many men Gideon took with him. It could be three hundred, or it could be thirty-two thousand.

• All that mattered was that God had spoken to Gideon.

• All that mattered was that Gideon had heard God.

• All that mattered was that Gideon was now responding to God in faith, trusting in God.

And because Gideon trusted God, he responded with obedience to God. As Jonathan said to his armourbearer as they, alone, attacked the Philistine army:

For nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.[9]

Why? Because it is God who gives the victory.

Then, as Gideon responded to God's call in both faith and obedience, Gideon came to know God in a way that he had never known God before.

Just as Moses, as he trusted in God, and through his faith in God he obeyed God, Moses came to know God in a way that he had never known God before.

Just as Mary, as she trusted in God, came to know the greatness and power of God in a way that she had never known before. And when she realised the greatness of God she cried out:

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.[10]

In Luke 5, when Jesus told Peter to lower his nets into the sea, Peter at first objected. After all, Jesus was only a carpenter while Peter had been a fisherman all his life. What would a carpenter know about fishing? But Peter, even though his faith may have been weak, even though he may have doubted the instructions of this carpenter from Nazareth, Peter rowed out into deeper water, lowered his nets, and brought in a catch of fish that was so big, so heavy, it filled his boat. As he saw the greatness of Jesus, he responded to the call of Jesus to follow him.

When God leads us into something new in our lives, we may face a crisis of belief. We may ask ourselves, "Can I trust God in this area? Will God help me in this area? Will God keep his promises in this area of my life?"

If you have heard the voice of God as he has spoken to you through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church. If you have heard God's invitation to join him in his work. If you are questioning, as you face that "crisis of belief", "can God do this through me?"

The answer to that question, as it was with Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, Mary, Peter, and Gideon, the answer to the question "can God do this through me", is "yes"!

But what we need to do is take a step of faith and a step of obedience. Trusting God and following God. Only then can we begin to know God in all his glory and in all his power.

[1] Blackaby, Henry Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God (Nashville: LifeWay Press, 1990)

[2] Genesis 18:2, 10-14

[3] Exodus 3:7-12

[4] Jeremiah 32:6-9, 24-27

[5] Luke 1:30-31, 34-35, 37

[6] Judges 6:16

[7] Matthew 17:20

[8] Joshua 1:5b

[9] 1 Samuel 14:6b

[10] Luke 1:46-49