Falling on the stone
People want to come to God, but with so many things that say there is no God they stumble. When we look at the things that are happening today one can question where is God. People expect God to work when the bad strikes, and when he does not they deny him. David was going through this emotional stage where he was lamenting and because people did not see God take him out, they questioned his presence (Ps42:3). David’s words of faith are sensed throughout this psalm. Just because God does not move when we need and want him to does not deny his existence (He11:6). Seeking God not by faith will have some detrimental effect on ones life.
Romans 9:30-33
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
The gentiles, Paul said that while they did not seek to be right with God they found it through a means called faith, the Jews did not because of the focus on works. Common people did not know what faith was and that there is a God that calls the things that are not as they were (ro4:17). Now, faith according to Hebrews 11 is “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Coming to God became a stumbling block to the Jews and everyone who attempts to draw close to him with just only works, just like this rich young man who did everything in the law but could not go any further (Mt19:20-21). With a stumbling block one cannot go any further, and in God’s kingdom there are some that keep us from going ahead. Jesus said that if anyone believes in him will have eternal life (Jhn6:47), it is that faith that keeps us from stumbling. Walking by faith justifies us before God (Ga3:11). This is what happened to Cornelius, when he was noted to be fasting and sharing his alms that God sent his Peter to baptize them after the Holy Spirit had come upon them (Acts 10:4).
My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long,“Where is your God?”
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”a] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.