The Choice of Faith
It was raining hard. The interstate had narrowed to one lane because of construction. To make matters worse,
I was following the only truck within a thousand miles. I wasn't happy.
They had called late at night from the camp our son was attending. “Pastor Hicks, we think your son has broken
both his legs.” My nine-year-old was two hours away. There wasn't a thing I could do about the distance or the
accident that had happened. They needed permission to take him to the hospital. Of course I agreed, and asked how
he was doing.
“He's in a great deal of pain and is crying,” I was told. It didn't help my emotions. “Tell him his dad loves
him, that I'm praying for him; that I'm on my way to meet you at the hospital,” I said.
That had been an hour ago. And here I was, stuck behind what seemed to be the slowest trucker on the North American
continent. I swerved behind him with my lights blinking to high intensity. Apparently, this signal was not well
received by the inhabitant of the truck. He actually seemed to slow down and fully occupied the lane so as to make
my passing an invitation to disaster.
A friend from the East Coast had been at the house and had volunteered to make the trip with me. He asked if
he could pray. Better he than I! Because at this point, my emotions were all tilted towards the red indicators:
I was angry at the trucker; angry at the camp; angry with the kids involved in the accident;
angry with the counselor on whose watch the accident had happened; angry with myself for letting
my kid attend the camp!
And, yes, I was even a little angry with the Lord for allowing this to happen to my son. After all, didn't He
care? Didn't He know this was going to happen? Why didn't He keep it from happening? Yes, it was much better for
my friend to pray.
As Amos prayed, the Holy Spirit began to convict me about the red indicators! As I processed the Holy Spirit's
gracious conviction of my thoughts, I began to pray for each one I was angry with: the truck driver (I actually
praised God for someone obeying the speed laws!), the camp director, the counselor, the other boys—myself. As I
remember, it was somewhere North of Salem, Oregon, on I–5, that I asked the Lord to forgive me for the anger I
had felt towards Him. It was foolish. I regretted it. And His forgiveness was instantaneous.
Then I joined Amos in praying for Jeff. Ill never forget the words that came out of my mouth: “Lord, I ask You
to heal Jeff, but You don't have to. I would love a miracle, but I don't require one. You already have me lock,
stock, and barrel. Lord, if I never see another miracle as long as I live, I've already seen enough of Your grace
and power to convince me of who You are. Mighty God, be freed to do whatever You choose to do for your own purposes.
For me, I choose to believe in You.”
Later, Amos commented on the sense of the Lord's presence we both felt at that moment. For me, I knew another
crucial faith test had just been passed. Every time you pass a faith test, you will discover the matter of choice.
In fact, there is no way to pass a faith test without the issue of choice.
In this instance, I had passed the test of circumstances by choosing to believe in Him, as opposed
to believing for Him to do something on my behalf.
Please understand, there is nothing wrong in believing for the miraculous. We are admonished to contend for
the faith once given to the saints (Jude 1:3). However, we are never privileged to require the miraculous
in order to decide if we'll continue to put our faith in the Lord Jesus.
Stuck behind that truck on a rainy night in Oregon, I had made a decisive faith choice. The Lord had blessed
our small church in Eugene with many miracles and much growth. It was not unusual for us to see many people healed
of all manner of sickness. In the church, there was an immense capacity for faith, an ability to believe for the
miraculous. I was not a stranger to faith for the miraculous.
But now I asked myself, Has something crept into my faith life? Has some Pharisaic contamination begun to
express itself in my ministry? I honestly do not know. But I do know this: the moment I said, “I do not require
a miracle,” something of God's glory broke across my inner being.
In that moment of glory, I began to pray for my son. I spoke peace into his heart, feeling confident God was
doing it that moment, though I was miles away. I asked the Lord to comfort Jeff, and I also rebuked the enemy from
using this incident to misshape him in any way.
When we arrived at the hospital, I was taken immediately to the emergency room. What did I discover? A smiling
little boy, who jumped down from the cot and ran into my arms. I noticed two things: one, his legs were obviously
not broken! And two, he was wearing the same clothes—unchanged from when he had left for camp five days before!
As we drove back home together, I asked him what happened. He responded, “Dad, I don't know. It hurt real bad,
and then it just stopped hurting.” To this day, I don't have the slightest idea what really happened. The nurse
at the camp believed both legs were broken. A young man on the camp staff who had served in Vietnam as a medic
had thought the same thing. There was no “absolute” medical confirmation, and so I say, “I don't know.” But I do
know this: I experienced the glory of the Lord when (1) I made a confession and was purified and forgiven of anger,
(2) I made a faith choice that honored Him, and (3) I released God from my requirements of the miraculous. And
further, I know that my son experienced something that he will never forget either. All this is enough.
Choosing to Believe
There are several incidents from the life of the Lord Jesus that illustrate the importance of choosing to believe.
Read Mark 4:35–41. From this story of the storm, answer these questions:
1. What did Jesus say to his disciples to initiate the journey?
2. When the storm came, what was Jesus doing?
3. What does this suggest to you?
4. How did He deal with the storm?
5. The disciples heard Jesus speak to the storm. What did they hear Him say to them?
It is significant to note that Jesus rebuked both the storm and the disciples! Though He made the storm on the
outside cease, He expected them to deal with the storm on the inside. As you read through the Gospel
narratives, you will be surprised how often Jesus will control the elements and control demonic spirits—yet you
will hardly ever see Him controlling the disciples. Only He could rebuke the storm on the sea of Galilee.
Only they could rebuke the storm of fear and doubts they were experiencing.
When He asks, “Why is it that you have no faith?” He is suggesting that faith was possible—that it was a matter
of choice. They could have chosen to believe instead of giving in to their doubts and fears.
This is true for us, too. In His wisdom, God has made you and me responsible in matters of faith. Only we can
deal with doubts and fears. Use a concordance to see how many times the phrase “fear not” or “do not fear” is used
in the Bible. The admonition would not be there if it were not possible. If Jesus says, “Fear not,” it must be
possible for us to receive that mastery over fear!
Word Wealth
Romans 8:15—“… the spirit of bondage again to fear.” Phobia, phobos, (Strong's #5401;
fob-oss); alarm or fright:—be afraid, exceedingly, fear, terror, from which comes phebomai (to be
put in fear).
Paul associates this terror with the spirit of bondage, and writes that we have not been given that spirit.
We have received the working of the Holy Spirit that is called the “spirit of adoption.” He will lead us to exclaim,
“Abba Father”, an endearing term used by those who know that they are included in the family of God.
Word Wealth
Second Timothy 1:7—”God has not given us a spirit of fear,” deilia (Strong's #1167; di-lee-ah);
timidity or fear.
As Paul confronts Timothy's fear, he reminds him what he has been given by the Holy Spirit. From 2 Timothy 1:7,
what are the three things Paul says that Timothy has received from God?
1.
2.
3.
In the last lesson, we considered faith as a gift of the Holy Spirit. When we consider faith as a choice, let
us never think that we are left alone! God's Spirit is working into us the knowledge that each of us is a child
of the Father. By this means, the Holy Spirit is seeking to give us power, love, and a sound mind.
Word Wealth
Second Timothy 1:7—“Sound mind,” sophronismos (Strong's #4995; so-fron-is-mos);
discipline, i.e. self-control:—sound mind.
While the word fear means a timidity, loss of confidence, sound mind refers to the ability to
be under control during difficult circumstance, to think straight under pressure. The bad news: there is
a spirit of fear. That spirit was working on Timothy, and it will seek to work on you too. The good news: the Holy
Spirit is making a sound mind available to you at the same time.
You can choose to believe. You can also choose to panic, giving in to doubts and fears. But the choice is yours.
Using the metaphor of the story in Mark 4, if the Lord Jesus says, “Let us go over to the other side,” it is reasonable
to assume you will make it!
The question then becomes, “What has the Lord said to you?” Or perhaps better said, “What Scriptures do you
know which may be applied to your current set of circumstances?”
If some aspects of faith are a matter of choice, and, if the choice is between what you know the Lord has said,
and what your circumstances are saying—or what the enemy of your soul is saying—then knowing what the Lord is saying
becomes extremely important!
Word Wealth
Romans 10:17—”So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Note: “In God's ordinary
means of operating, people do not come to saving faith unless they either read the Bible or have someone tell them
the gospel message that is in it. It is the Word of God that the Spirit uses to awaken a response of faith
within us, and it is the reliability of the Word of God on which we rest our faith for salvation. [Spirit-Filled
Life Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991), note on Rom. 10:17.]
The Spirit and the Word
Where faith is a matter of choice, you can be confident that God's Spirit is speaking the Word upon which you
may base your choice to believe. Again using the story of the storm from Mark 4, let us notice that the disciples
had His word (“Let us go over to the other side”), and they also had His presence. (He was with them in the boat.)
In comparison, then, answer these questions:
Is Jesus with you? Write your thoughts as you read these promises.
Matt. 28:20—“Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the age.” Amen.
Acts 18:10—“for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”
He is with you! Armed by what He has spoken to you, make good choices—choices to believe. Be responsible in
dealing with your doubts and fears. Remember, Jesus will rebuke the storm on the outside. Only you can rebuke
the storm on the inside.
It is not responsible or necessarily even truthful to say, “I am not afraid.” But it is responsible to say,
“I will not be afraid.” It is not responsible to say, “I do not have any doubts.” It is responsible to say, “I
will not give in to doubts.”
Write these verses:
1. Psalm 56:3
2. Isaiah 12:2
3. Psalm 92:2 (Read vv. 1–6)
Probing the Depths
It is true that a certain form of faith has been taught in recent years that is more New Age than it is biblical.
What are the differences?
• New Age faith teaching leads you down the pathway of getting your way. Biblical faith teaching leads you down
the path of getting God's way!
• New Age faith teaching makes your will important. Biblical faith teaching makes God's will supremely important.
• New Age faith teaching employs tactics of denial, refusing to acknowledge the reality of personal, supernatural
evil. Biblical faith teaching acknowledges reality and triumphs through the tragedy.
Denial is based in fear, but faith is never afraid of reality. Some people want to believe for healing because
they are afraid of sickness. But biblical faith contends for healing because God has promised it (“I am the Lord
who heals you”—Ex. 15:26), not because we fear the complications or implications of affliction or death.
This is not to suggest that a believer never fears, whether pain, sickness, poverty—or even the Enemy. Sincere,
faithful believers experience fear of all these, but some adopt the art of denial, never admitting to fear, as
though their denial is “faith.” Genuine faith is centered in the Lord and His Word. It is based in Him—the
Truth—and His Word which is truth (John 14:6; 17:7). Instead of living in a religious or philosophical world
of denial, a biblical believer armed with faith's true understanding will refuse to be moved or to make decisions
based on fear. That “true understanding” is (1) the Lord is with you, (2) His Word is true, and (3) He will not
fail you or His Word.
Do you believe?
In the following four verses, Jesus asks the question, “Do you believe?” Write down your observations from each
incident, being careful to study the context. In each case, see how Jesus calls for the choice of faith.
That choice is not the power of faith. It is simply our accepting His promise—His Word. The power is His, the promise
He's given to us. (Emphasis is added in each verse.)
1. Matthew 9:28—“And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do
you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’”
2. John 1:50—“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you, “I saw you under the fig tree,” do you
believe? You will see greater things than these.’”
3. John 9:35—“Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, ‘Do you believe
in the Son of God?’”
4. John 11:26—“And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Faith Alive
In the previous lesson, you studied the gift of faith. God's Spirit can move powerfully in you so that
faith is less a matter of making something happen and more a matter of letting something happen.
Because it is a gift, you can only receive it. We each can respond to a gift being offered. We cannot initiate
the offering of that gift, but we can receive it.
In this chapter, you have also studied the concepts behind faith as a choice. Evaluate your recent decisions
in matters of faith in the following circumstances: Describe ways that
In my home, I am choosing to believe
In my job, I am choosing to believe
In my health, I am choosing to believe
In my emotions, I am choosing to believe
In my ministry, I am choosing to believe
This is a splendid exercise, but look back at what you have written. If you have written choices that express
your desires, and not His will (as revealed in His Word), then you will experience something less of faith's power
than He intends. Go over the areas again, and write in a Bible verse that you understand as addressing your circumstance.
Make that promise the basis for your faith, and let God into your circumstance by that choice. You needn't
feel it's your task to create or beget the power to bring solutions. Yours is simply to choose Him. He
has the power, and He's given you and me His promise!
From Power Faith: Balancing Faith in Words and Works by Roy Hicks, JR. with Jack W. Hayford. Copyright 1994 by Jack W. Hayford.
