Excuses are the Enemy of Faith
Excuses are like muscles, the more you use them the stronger they become and the easier it is to rely upon them. We must work at letting excuses atrophy. May our excuse making wither into useless weakness and our faith flourish into obedience.
Making excuses is an affront to faith. As the writer of Hebrews says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV) Every time we make an excuse we starve our hope and ignore our conviction.
Later in Hebrews 11 the writer claims, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV)
EXAMPLES OF EXCUSES THAT WERE NEVER MADE:
Abel, “Making a blood sacrifice offering to God is too costly.”
Enoch. “I can’t leave I’ll miss this world too much.”
Noah, “We shouldn’t build a boat, there’s never any rain, and the people will mock us.”
Abraham, “I can’t leave my family, I don’t even know where I’m going.”
Sarah, “Abraham and I are too old to have a son”
Israel, “The Egyptians are too powerful, they will never let us free.” “The Red Sea is too deep and wide. We will drown if we try to cross it.” “The walls of Jericho are too strong, too tall, and too thick.”
Rahab, “If God knew who I was and what I’ve done He would never use me.” “I can’t protect the spies, I will be too vulnerable and afraid.”
Twice in Hebrews 11, the scripture says, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised.” This leads me to believe that faith, for the believer, is not about the results, rather, it is about the trust. We are tempted to make faith about the results and we are disappointed when we don’t achieve the expected results.
If we truly trust God, we will attempt great things for Him, trust Him to faithfully provide, accept the results, and stop making excuses.