Hebrews 11:27 Holding faith’s promise Moses abandoned Egypt and had no fear of Pharaoh’s rage because he persisted in faith as if he had seen God who is unseen (TPT).
Faith is the process not the product. The product is ‘the blessing’. When we pray for an oak tree, God will give us an acorn. Faith journey is like the process of a product-line in a cotton factory. It starts with putting the raw unprocessed, unrefined and untreated cotton-wool through the process of cleaning, drying, bleaching, spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing and sewing before it is spun into a fine fabric for sale to the customer. When we pray for patience we will face tight situations where our faith will be tested. Faith is the vehicle that carries us through the tough, travailing turpitude. The strength of the “fibre of faith” will determine the quality of the “fabric of honour”.
Moses was a fabric of faith. His parents hid the infant when he was born as they believed in faith that he was the divinely appointed deliverer. He miraculously made his way into the palace and was raised as the son of the Pharaoh. By faith he left Egypt in search of the invisible God, hence the Lord God appeared to him in a burning bush to commission him as the liberator. The journey of Moses from hiding in the basket of bulrushes to the backside of the desert was the process that strengthened the “substance of faith”. The evidence of faith was manifested when he walked back into Egypt; not as a prince but as a prophet. An oak tree takes 40 years to mature and so did the faith of Moses in the wilderness. When Moses left Egypt his faith was in the size of an acorn but when he returned he was a matured old oak tree!
Three steps to maturity:
1. Choice: Faith journey is a choice. The fibre of an unplucked cotton-wool will dismember into the air but if harvested on time it can be spun into a fanciful fabric. Nelson Mandela chose to let go his flourishing law practice to become a social rights activist, politician and philanthropist. Moses chose persecution instead of the fleeting pleasure of sin which matured him into a ‘deliverer of the Israelites’. Choosing instead to suffer mistreatment with the people of God (Vs 25). Everyone has a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). It is our choice if we want an acorn or an oak tree. Maturity is a choice.
2. Cost: Faith is not cheap; it comes at a cost. He found his true wealth in suffering abuse for being anointed, more than in anything the world could offer him (vs 26). Faith matures at the cost of leisure and lifestyle. Faith might require relinquishing power or position. Loss, pain and suffering is like the process of cleaning, drying and dyeing the fibre before it becomes a fine fabric. Maturity is costly.
3. Crown: The crown of faith is for the faithful not just for the first. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown (1 Corinthians 9:25). The medal of honour is given to the winner in the race but the crown of faith is reserved for those who finish the race faithfully, fervently and fearfully.
Faith is the process of the end product (blessing).
1 Corinthians 9:24b Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, give me the endurance to mature my faith so I may receive the crown of life. Amen.
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