We get it twisted sometimes as Christians recognizing when we have left the confines of faith in God into the territory of testing God. Indeed God wants us to have full confidence in Him and in His ability. Without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). 

What is Faith?

Faith is an assurance we have about something we have not yet seen. We just trust that we will have it (Hebrews 11:1). Believing in God is an act of faith because we do not see Him physically, we just trust that He exists and He rewards those who seek Him diligently.

There are times when we face difficulties in life and we are almost in despair but we still hang on to God’s promises and we console ourselves with them, hoping that they would come true sooner or later. That is faith in God.  

Sometimes, we unknowingly walk into dangerous situations and by the time we realize the danger we are in, it’s already too late to correct it. Sometimes we are helplessly thrown into such situations as Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den for being a follower of God. In those times, we are left with no other choice but to call on God and hang all our hopes on Him for rescue. That is faith.

Faith in God’s word may encourage someone to embark on a task that may seem not to make sense to man but because God gave the instruction, we trust His reason and we go ahead with it. For example, while he was on earth, Jesus met some of his disciples who had fished all night without any good catch. They had given up but Jesus asked them to try one more time. That instruction didn’t seem to make sense to them at the time but they obeyed because they had faith in him and of course they had a bountiful catch beyond their expectations (Luke 5:4-7).  

What Faith is Not

Those instances earlier mentioned are examples of situations that demonstrate faith in God. Throughout the 11^th chapter of the book of Hebrews, we see a lot of instances of faith. However, there are some cases that we may call faith today but are not truly acts of faith. They seem like putting God to test because we know of His power.  

When we take actions that are not in line with the wisdom in God’s word and we still hope in God to support us, we are no longer acting in faith, rather we put God to test. A good example of this is seen in the temptation of Jesus. The devil asked him to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple for God to come to his rescue. Jesus told him “Do not put the Lord your God to test.” (Luke 4:12 -NIV)

Someone once requested to be allowed into a lion’s den to prove his ‘faith’ in God but he never made it out of the den alive. It is great to have faith in God but it is wrong to deliberately put yourself in danger hoping that God has got your back. We do not take the grace of God for granted.

God’s word clearly instructs that we flee fornication and all appearances of sin. It will be wrong to live with someone you are not yet married to, trusting God to keep you both from fornicating.

While God protects us, we are also responsible for simple security measures to be observed. Deliberately ignoring security measures and trusting God to secure you or your home amounts to testing God.

There are so many ways we can test God. I cannot give an exhaustive list of instances. The summary of it all is for us to do our part and then let God do His. Except the Lord watches over a city, the watchmen watch in vain, true. This does not mean we have no need for watchmen. Let us take careful consideration of God’s word so we do not misappropriate it.

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