- The thing about crazy faith is that, if it doesn’t come from God, it is just crazy.
- Too many people are placing things on God that He didn’t cosign.
- Don’t confuse ambition with Crazy Faith. The line gets blurry when you don’t spend time with God.
How Many Things Have You Done Before God Came?
- 1 Samuel 13:5-13: The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
- Saul (current king / main character) and Samuel (had anointed Saul to be king) hears the word of the Lord. God planned to give victory to Saul but only after Saul and Samuel sacrificed an offering together. Saul got tired of waiting for Samuel and did the burnt offering by himself.
- Saul displayed Hasty faith, and so do we, when we don’t wait on God and try to do things on our own.
- Hasty: Acting too quickly, overly eager, or impatient.
- Saul displayed Hasty faith, and so do we, when we don’t wait on God and try to do things on our own.
- Saul (current king / main character) and Samuel (had anointed Saul to be king) hears the word of the Lord. God planned to give victory to Saul but only after Saul and Samuel sacrificed an offering together. Saul got tired of waiting for Samuel and did the burnt offering by himself.
Hasty Faith:
- Hasty Faith can cost you forever
- 1 Samuel 13:13: “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
- Saul waited for Samuel for seven days, just as Samuel requested, but as Saul watched his men leave, he got impatient and in haste, sacrificed the offering, minutes before Samuel arrived. Saul lost his position God had for him because of his haste.
- If the enemy can’t get in front of you and stop you, he’ll get behind you and push you. The only way the enemy has the power to push you is by getting you so deep in fear, you can’t get out.
- The enemy has only one play in your life. He tries to hard press you when you’re already in a tight spot.
- EX.) In Samuel 13:6, Saul’s men were in a tight spot hiding from their enemies.
- When you’re illiterate of the situation you’re in, the enemy can come in, hard press you, and that causes you to operate hastily.
- Most of us move in haste and try to save ourselves with the Word of God mentioned in Romans 8:28, yet we wouldn’t need to quote that Scripture if we operated in God, consulted with God, and made sure it was Him before we moved.
- 1 Samuel 13:13: “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
- Hasty Faith is provoked by pressure
- We have a tendency to start moving out of character and toward other things when you feel pressure.
- We can respond with hasty faith or crazy faith in times of pressure.
- Jesus was not exempt from the enemy’s same pressure, He too was hard pressed.
- EX.) Matthew 4:1-4: Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”
- The Holy Spirit led Christ to a wilderness season to be tempted by the Devil.
- Question: Why would God lead His Son (and us) into a wilderness season to be tempted by the Devil?
- Answer: We often feel like God has deserted us, but He has instead brought us through separation. An anointed, marked person requires separation.
- We try to hold onto everybody and everything, and many times before we get to that Promised Land, He takes us to the wilderness to produce.
- The Holy Spirit led Christ to a wilderness season to be tempted by the Devil.
- In Matthew 4:1-4, the enemy was trying to get Christ to perform miracles. Christ had the power to do them, yet His season for miracles was not yet time.
- Jesus responded to the enemy that “It was written!” so we have to stay in the Word, leaning on God’s promises and timing.
- God may also bring us to the wilderness season to humble us.
- EX.) Matthew 4:1-4: Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”
- We have a tendency to start moving out of character and toward other things when you feel pressure.
What Can Be Produced Under Pressure?
- For Jesus, the pressure produced God’s purpose. For Saul, the pressure produced panic. For some of us, when we get pressure, we move in panic.
- Question: Why is it important to know this?
- Answer: Because we can give up our forever by operating in fear when we feel pressure. What you think is protecting your fears, is exposing your faith.
- God says, “wait on me,” yet we hide behind things like success, money, relationships, etc. The problem is that which we have been living in; we start carrying it around and it’s now stuck with us. When God says it’s time to go, it holds us back.
Action Statement
- Action Statement: Stop hiding in things that can’t cover you! Say, “I’m going to wait on God!”
- We need to stand firm when the pressure comes. Remind yourself when things are moving around you: I can be pressured but still not be crushed.
- 2 Corinthians 4:8: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair
- Many times, God puts us under pressure to bring out what’s inside. One pressure crushes the outside, but another pressure produces what nourishes others.
- EX.) Grapes crushed produce juice and its seeds can produce a vineyard.
- We need to stand firm when the pressure comes. Remind yourself when things are moving around you: I can be pressured but still not be crushed.
Hasty faith is still faith; the problem is you’re doing it at the wrong time. When you feel pressure, don’t be hasty. Wait on God, pressure produces.
Tinsai Worke
Hi! My name is Tinsai Worke, but you can just call me Tina. I am a young, devoted Christian and a part-time note-taker for different online sermons.
