Are you living the faith life or the force life?

I Samuel 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine (Goliath), Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel. 46. This day will the Lord delivery thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

Introduction:

When we study the battle between David and Goliath, we see two approaches to life. One approach is the way of force; the other is the way of faith. One is the method of the world, and the other the method of trust in God. Goliath trusted in the way of force, the way of the world. As David noted, Goliath came with a sword, a spear, and a shield. He trusted in his massive size and strength, his military training and experience. David placed his trust in the living God, the God who had enabled him to overcome a lion and a bear. Which way do you approach life – through force or through faith? What is your way to approach your personal life, your family, your work or business?

The faith life honors God

The faith life honors God; the force life honors man. The faith life is the life of the Spirit; the force life is the way of the world system. The unsaved individual who does not know God has access only to the force life. But the true believer has a choice. He can choose either to approach life through force or by faith. Many Christians, although they are truly born again, revert to the way of the world to get through life. They depend on their own wisdom, strength, training, cleverness, and resources rather than trust in God’s Word and obey His commands.

The Apostle Paul describes his faith life. I Corinthians 2:1-5 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man but in the power of God. Paul goes on to mention that not all the believers would receive his message, because they were not able to discern spiritual things. He continues in chapter 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as babes in Christ. Paul said that many of the believers were still operating in the force life and not the faith life because they were carnal (fleshly) believers, not spirit-filled believers.

The faith life is rarely found (even among believers)

The entire ?Philistine army was using the force life. The entire army of Israel from King Saul to the lowest member of the army were terrified, and they also assessed their chances against the giant in terms of the world. Only one Israelite operated by faith, the shepherd boy David. He saw that the giant was big and powerful, but not compared to the living God.

Isn’t this true of the majority of Christians today? We often do not know our God personally in such a way that we operate by faith and miss the blessings that our God has in store for us.

The faith life protects us:

From a human standpoint, we would expect that the force life is better protected. Certainly, from a human point of view, David did not stand a chance against Goliath, but that leaves God out of the picture. David wrote Psalm 34. Note what he says: Psalm 34:6-7 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. True protection ultimately comes for the man with faith in God.

The victory of the faith life is eternal:

David did not start living by faith the day that he faced Goliath. He had already faced a lion and a bear with only his slingshot as a weapon. He learned to trust God. This faith enabled him to emerge victorious against the giant. He continued living by faith throughout his life although he had a disastrous lapse in his sin with Bathsheba.

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The victorious faith life comes from linking with the eternal God. The ultimate victory is not just temporary but has eternal consequences. God’s blessings may or may not be seen in this life, but they are certainly seen in eternity. In summary, the force life may well bring some victories here on earth, but they are short-lived. Those victories in the eternal God last forever.