2023_02_15 Insight Post- Rusty Coram
This week’s reading- Genesis 15, Galatians 3, Genesis 17, James 2
Many years ago, I was faced with a growing dilemma – I could either choose to be faithful to tithe (giving the first 10% of my income to my church) or continue to give much less and have a more comfortable financial cushion. The decision was not really a financial one at all. It was a trust issue. Did I trust God to take care of my family and me? Did I believe that He would provide what we needed, given that my salary was lower than initially promised by my new employer? Was God aware of the situation and interested in our needs? Trusting God is easy in theory but feels very different when it comes to daily practice. To trust Him means stepping out in obedience, knowing that He will not leave us alone and hopeless. In James 2, we read of two people who were faced with the choice to trust God or not.
“Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.” James 2:23-26 (NLT)
God provided a substitute for Isaac (He was just testing Abraham’s faith), and Rahab risked her life and found God to be totally trustworthy. Taking God at His word and acting on it is what faith is. Faith is trust.
I decided to fully trust God with my finances and have never regretted it. My family and I have many stories of how God has provided for us and in ways that have strengthened our faith. The truth is that God is utterly trustworthy. The question He asks is, “Do you trust me?”
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor