Faith comes through hearing

“Repetition is the mother of learning”. This is a popular saying that comes from the Latin’s proverb “Repetitio est mater studiorum” and simply means the more you repeat something, the better you become at it, or the more learnt you become about that thing. Repetition is one method God often uses towards his children. He used it with the people of Israel over and over again. He repeated his commandments, repeated his words to them, repeatedly showed them he could be trusted. I have recently come to the revelation and understanding of the goodness of God in repetition. You see, as an individual, I hate repetition, I hate to be told things twice and I hate to hear the same things over and over again. Yet, I have been humbled by God over the past couple of years, learning my need for repetition and the benefits of it. So, if you are anything like me, read on because there is hope for you.

Unlike God, we are not able to comprehend things instantly, we need time to process what we see, hear, and observe. Often times, we forget what we have heard, seen or observed and that is where repetition comes in. It is one way we are humbled and put in our place because we are not that “all knowing” after all (of course we will never say this out loud, yet our actions betray us). When God told Abraham that he was going to be the father of all nations, Abraham didn’t really understand and so his belief at first was weak. That is why, Abraham had to be reminded of the message several times (Gen 12:1-3, Gen 13:14-17, Gen 15:5, Gen 17:1-8) before it became ingrained in his DNA. Besides what we have on record, I wonder how many other times he had to be told he was going to have a descendance so great he would not be able to number them? You see, the more God told Abraham of his promise, the more Abraham’s faith was strengthened. The same thing happened with Abraham’s son Isaac. God appeared to Isaac and told him on more than one occasion that he was going to fulfill the promise made to Abraham his father (Genesis 26:3, 24). He reminded Isaac that the land he was living in would become his and his descendants. It is to that hope that Isaac built his life ensuring his son Jacob settles there after him. In the same way, God repeated to Jacob that he was the God of his father Isaac and the God of his grandfather Abraham. God told Jacob the same promise he had given to Jacob’s ancestors. To make this truth even more personal for Jacob, God appeared to Jacob in a dream and spoke to him directly and it is that encounter that fostered his relationship with the God of his forefathers. Repeating the same message over and over again caused Jacob to have faith in God, just like it caused Abraham to believe God and for Isaac to trust in God’s words. The same is true for us today, we have to be reminded of the promises of God over and over again because we might doubt them and live contrary to what the Lord desires. Paul said in Romans that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17) which means it is impossible to believe the word of God, to believe in Christ without hearing his words. The more you hear, the stronger your faith becomes. God’s modus operandi is the same with us today. What he did with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the people of Israel, he is doing with us. We are encouraged to be constantly in the word of God, to meditate on it day and night, to not let this book of the law depart from our mouth; we are commanded to seek the Lord in the morning and in the night (Joshua 1:8). Clearly, the point is to remember, to repeat, to relearn until our faith becomes sight.

For someone who used to hate repetition because it forced me to realize my failings, I have learned that when something is repeated, I need to take heed of it. When a word is repeated, I pay attention now, I do not think that I know it already, and I do not brush it off as quickly as I would do before, no, I have learnt that I do not know as much as I think I do and that it is okay to be told the same things several times. The point is to be able to get it in the end. I thank God the Father for his continued patience towards me. I know if it wasn’t for him, I would not be where I am today. In fact, it is this very patience that has kept me steadily writing for a year now. Yes, this is my blogging anniversary, and I am so grateful because I had no idea, I would keep on going but my God and Father kept me going and provided all that was necessary. So you better believe I will hear over and over again whatever message God has for me until I no longer need it. In the meantime, Father I am all yours, do with me as you please. Amen.