DAILY DEVOTIONAL – MARCH 16, 2023 The Irrationality of Faith By David Wilkerson

When God says to humankind, “Believe,” he demands something that is wholly beyond reason. Faith is totally illogical. Think about it. The book of Hebrews says faith is the substance of something hoped for, evidence that’s unseen.  There is no evidence, yet we’re asked to believe. Believers will face discouragement in this life, yet I believe if we understand the illogical, unreasonable nature of faith, we will 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, and God finally said, “Enough! Man is set on destroying himself. It must end.” (see Genesis 6). Imagine the faith required of Noah.  God was going to send a cataclysmic event that would destroy the entire earth, and Noah was simply to accept God’s words by faith.  He was given a mammoth task to build a huge ark, surrounded by dangerous unbelievers, without further direction from God for the next 120 years.  Despite all this, Noah did as God said and kept trusting the word he’d been given.  For his obedience, Noah “became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7 NKJV). In Genesis 12:1–4, God similarly told Abraham, “Get up, go out, and leave your country.” This was a ridiculous, unreasonable demand, yet Abraham obeyed. Faith demanded that he act on nothing more than a promise. One starry night, God told Abraham, “Look up into the sky and try to count the stars. 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 and his wife, Sarah, were old, yet here was God promising him that he would become a father of many nations. The only evidence he had was a word from heaven: “I am the Lord” (Genesis 15:7). Abraham obeyed, and the Bible says the same thing of him that it says of Noah.  “And he believed in the Lord; and he accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Once again, one man’s faith is translated into righteousness. What God asks of us may sound unreasonable, but he has proven that we can trust him in every situation. Even when the situation seems hopeless and impossible, he always comes through with perfect Holy Ghost timing.