Satan tries to block the revelation of God’s love for us in many ways, but the most subtle and deadly way is deceiving us into thinking we have to do something to earn God’s love.
Our faith hinges on it.
We struggle to believe God’s promises will come to pass because of unbelief; but the root of unbelief is a lack of love.
Galatians 5:6 says faith works by love. Love is the driving force behind our faith. Remove or diminish love, and faith ceases to be what it should be.
Many of us try harder to believe when we should be seeking a greater revelation of God’s love for us. Then, faith would just naturally work.
Right after Jamie and I were married, I had quit my job, believing that the Lord wanted me to go into full-time ministry. We were hurting financially. It had been days since we’d eaten. Living on Coke and Fritos, our faith began to waver. Our circumstances and empty bellies were screaming unbelief at us.
One morning, Jamie took our last fifty cents and drove to the laundry mat to do laundry. While she was gone, I cried out to God, “Lord, I don’t understand. I would give my right arm to feed Jamie. I believe You love us more than I love Jamie, and yet You aren’t taking care of us.” Circumstances blinded me to God’s love. That’s the main reason my faith wasn’t working.
The Lord spoke Luke 12:32 to me very clearly. It says, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Suddenly, I realized my unbelief was because I had forgotten how much God loves us. God delights in our prosperity (Ps. 35:27). He gets no pleasure from watching us starve. As the revelation of God’s love for us came flooding over me, all doubt that He would supply was instantly gone. When Jamie returned, I told her that we were going to eat meat that day.
At church, a friend asked us to stop by after service. We stayed and talked for over an hour, but there was no food. But as we were leaving, he gave us loads of fish he had caught and all the vegetables to go with them.
Just before midnight, we ate meat to our fill. The next day, a woman gave us a large box of porterhouse steaks. We went from Fritos and Coke to having steaks for a month because love made my faith work.
Our friend with the fish had come by while I was praying, but didn’t stop because the car was gone. At the exact moment that I got a new and fresh revelation of God’s love for us, our supply came through. As soon as I opened up to His love, my faith revived and He supplied.
Faith truly does work by love!
