The Work of Our Faith

 

Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power (2 Thessalonians 1:11 KJV)

In Genesis 26, we read that when Isaac came into the Valley of Gerar, he stopped to get fresh water from a well that his father Abraham had dug years earlier.  But to his dismay, he discovered that the well had been vandalized; stopped up by an enemy and rendered useless.  He soon discovered that the enemy had actually stopped up multiple wells.

Undaunted by this hostile deed, Isaac simply reopened them.  Later, when his servants dug another well, enemies showed up again.  This time, like the bully who steals the shy kids lunch money, the enemies actually ran off Isaac’s servants and claimed the well as their own. 

Isaac was determined to have fresh water, so he had his servants dig another well.  But the enemy came and stole that one too. 

Isaac had his servants dig yet another well, and this time the bullies left him alone. Isaac persevered in digging, and his hard work was rewarded with fresh, life giving water.

I was reminded of that story recently when I read 2 Thessalonians 1:11:

Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power (2 Thessalonians 1:11 KJV)

In this verse, we learn a powerful treasure.  God fulfils the work of our faith with power. 

When you dig a well, it gets filled with fresh water. 

When you dig a well with faith, God fills it with power.

Isaac kept digging because he knew the only way to get fresh water was to dig a well.  The water is always there, just under the ground, but you need to give it a receptacle before it appears – before it manifests, before it comes out of the unseen world underground and into your world.

Same thing, apparently, with power.

The resurrection power of God is in us, but in order for it to manifest in our physical world, we need to give the power a receptacle.  We need to dig some wells of our own.

And we do this, according to 2 Thessalonians 1:11, with our persevering faith.

God fills the work of our faith with power. 

What is the work of our faith?  To believe the promises with our heart and to say them with our mouth.

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  (Mark 11:23,24 KJV

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.  (Isaiah 12:3 KJV)

 

 

 

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