rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God
and was fully convinced that what God had promised
he was also able to do.
Most of us believe sometimes and doubt sometimes. This prevents us from being fully "empowered by the faith". It prevents us from giving glory to God by trusting completely in his promises. He promises to set us "free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear". But are we free from fear because of our faith in God? Jesus comes to "deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (cf. Heb. 2:15). Is doubt keeping the power of faith from fully transforming us?
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind (cf. Jam. 1:6).
When fear dominates we start to act like the rich man. We become fearful and horde the goods of this world. We try to create a life where we can "rest, eat, drink, and be merry" for many years. We have not learned to number our days aright (cf. Psa. 90:12). At any moment we might hear God say, "You fool" as the worldly supports on which we rely are taken away.
Let's worry less about our earthly treasure and more about being rich in what matters to God. He wants us to be rich in faith, fully convinced of his promises. This allows him to do what he wants in our lives and in our hearts. It allows us to be free from fear because it is no longer all about us and our efforts. It is no longer all about the transitory goods of the world which can be taken from us without warning. It is all about him. It is all about his plan and his promise. Even if our harvest is demanded from us his promise is undeterred. Even if our life is demanded of us this very night we can follow the example of the North American Martyrs. They "believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead". Because they believe it they experience that victory even now. This is the promise of which we must be fully convinced. We probably won't succeed at convincing ourselves. But God wants to convince us. His coming isn't just a once upon a time thing. He comes today to each of our hearts. He himself wants to set us free. If we let him, he will fully convince us of his resurrection power.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
He has come to his people and set them free.
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