Faith: My Actions, God's Actions

We've all heard that love is a verb. Love is something that you do, not something that you create or feel. The same holds true for faith. We live by faith, step out in faith and let faith be your guide. Faith is a beautiful word that we can act on every single day because we serve a God who is worthy of all our faith.

David wrote Psalm 37 as an encouragement to his people who saw evil people getting away with evil things. The Israelites were no different than we are today - they had a propensity for worrying and complaining. There must have been some issue or concern among the people because David starts his psalm with a reminder not to fret (be vexed, annoyed or troubled). He probably wouldn't have had to warn against it if it wasn't a problem. This definitely sounds like he was speaking to people of our day, doesn't it?

But he takes it a step further and gives the people some solid, practical ways to avoid fretting. How great of him to just teach us what God had taught him!

Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:3-5

Israel had six things to do in faith, and God promised to do three of His own in return. And if we act on these verbs as well, we're promised the same actions from Him.

Our list:
Trust - in God alone. Apply your faith and know that you can trust Him with everything.
Do - what God defines as good, not what the world says is good.
Dwell - remain in the presence of the Lord. Abide in Him and He will abide in you.
Delight - fully enjoy God's word knowing that He has your best interests in mind.
Commit - determine in faith that you will live life according to God's standards.
Trust (twice!) - in God alone. Anything repeated in Scripture is vitally important.

God's list:
Feed - He will give you all you need to be full and satisfied. This means physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually fed.
Give - specifically giving you the desires of your heart. This is easy when our desires are grounded and rooted in His desires.
Bring - our Lord takes our faith and multiplies it by bringing His perfect will to pass. He is faithful to do His part when we do ours.

How will you live your faith as a verb today?

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