Faith as Simple as the Flip of a Switch

"Oh no, we are trapped! The road ends here and the enemy is on our tail. What should we do?"

exclaims the tour guide on our Hollywood movie set tour at Universal Studios.

"Why, I'll just flip this switch and part the waters and we can move on safely,"

says the tour guide answering himself.

The above picture shows one of the special effects, the parting of the Red Sea, used in the 1956 classic film

The Ten Commandments.

I've been to Hollywood's Universal Studios several times and touring the old movie sets never gets old, no matter how many times you've done it. This is one of my favorite movie set effects that is shown here. And it often reminds me of how easy it actually was for God to part the Red Sea for the Israelites to escape.

 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

- Hebrews 11:29

So, it was by faith the Israelites were able to get through. But faith was the one thing the Israelites struggled with the most.

God provided so much for them when they needed it the most (especially food) during their 40 years in the wilderness, yet they still had trouble trusting Him. God once even called the Israelites a stiff-necked rebellious people. After seeing miracle after miracle you would think that their faith would've been perfect, but it wasn't.

I like to think that I am an expert on faith because I've had to trust in God on numerous occasions in my lifetime. But no, my faith is still being perfected, each and every day. That is why the difficulties and struggles we go through are important; it's what builds up our faith and our character in the Lord.

When it comes to faith my Pastor often reminds us to: Distrust our senses and collaborate with God.

I always like that constant reminder. So, how do we collaborate with God?

1. Within the four Gospels of the New Testament Jesus taught the Disciples to call those things that are unseen as seen.

Simply, believe in the impossible.

Mathew 19:26- With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

2. Confess with your mouth, speak God's Word over every situation in your life. Your words can bring you up or they can bring you down. it's your choice. When you speak God's Word over your struggle you are actually building up your own faith in what God says.

Remind yourself of 2 Corinthians 1:20- For all the promises of God are Yeah and Amen.

3. In Mathew 21 Jesus speaks to a fig tree and it withers. Then His Disciples asked Him, 

"How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" 

And He answered them, "If you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ' May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive."

The story of the Israelites wandering through the desert for 40 years is one of the greatest messages to build up one's faith. They saw miracles yet had several momentary lapse of faith. If you don't have a Bible you can click on my link on the home page for BibleGateway and read the Israelites story.

If you find yourself in front of a Red Sea or there's a mountain in your way remember:

Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.