When God says to humankind, “Believe,” he demands something that’s wholly beyond reason. Faith is totally illogical. Its very definition has to do with something unreasonable. Think about it: Hebrews says faith is the substance of something hoped for, evidence that’s unseen. We’re being told, in short, “There is no tangible substance, no visible evidence.” Yet, we’re asked to believe.
I’m addressing this subject for an important reason. Right now, all over the world, multitudes of believers are bowed low in discouragement. The fact is, we’re all going to continue facing discouragement in this life. Yet I believe if we understand the nature of faith—its illogical, unreasonable nature—we’ll find the help we need to get through.
Consider the faith that was demanded of Noah. He lived in a generation that had spun out of control. The condition of humans had grown so awful, God couldn’t take any more. Finally, He said, “Enough! Man is set on destroying himself—it must end” (see Genesis 6).
Imagine Noah’s bafflement as he tried to grasp this. God was going to send a cataclysmic event, one that would destroy the entire earth. Yet all that Noah was told about the matter were these brief words from heaven. He was simply to accept it by faith, without receiving any more direction for 120 years.
Think about what faith was demanding of Noah. He was given a mammoth task to build a huge ark, and meanwhile he had to live in a dangerous world. He had to keep believing while the whole world around him danced, partied and wallowed in sensuality. But Noah did as God said. He kept trusting the word he’d been given, for more than a century. And for his obedience, Scripture says, Noah “became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Hebrews 11:7).
In Genesis 12:1–4, God told Abraham, “Get up, go out, and leave your country.” Surely Abraham wondered, “But where, Lord?” God would have answered simply, “I’m not telling you. Just go.”
This wasn’t logical. It was a totally unreasonable demand to any thinking person. I’ll illustrate by asking every Christian wife: Imagine that your husband came home one day and said, “Pack up, honey, we’re moving.” Of course, you’d want to know why, or where, or how. But the only answer he gives you is, “I don’t know. I just know God said go.” There’s no rhyme or reason to this kind of demand. It simply isn’t logical.
Yet this is precisely the illogical direction that Abraham followed. “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Hebrews 11:8). All he knew was the brief word God had given him: “Go, Abraham, and I’ll be with you. No harm will come to you.” Faith demanded that Abraham act on nothing more than this promise.
One starry night, God told Abraham, “Look up into the sky. See the innumerable stars? Count them if you can. That’s how many descendants you’re going to have” (see Genesis 15:5). Abraham must have shaken his head at this. By now he was old, as was his wife, Sarah. They were long past the time of ever possibly having a child. Yet here he’s given a promise that he would become a father of many nations. And all the evidence he had to go on was a word from heaven: “I am the Lord” (Genesis 15:7).
But Abraham obeyed. And the Bible says the same thing of him that it says of Noah: “He believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Once again, we see an illogical scene. Yet one man’s faith is translated into righteousness.
What God asks of you may sound unreasonable. He asks that we trust him when he gives no evidence of answering our prayer, when the situation seems hopeless and we are sure it is all over. “Trust me”—the Lord says. Illogical? Yes. But for centuries the Lord has proven he is always on time and he never allows Satan to have the last word. God always comes through—in perfect Holy Ghost timing.
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David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.