The Distraction of Word of Faith

My wrong focus with Word of Faith teaching sent me off on a tangent. I felt like I was wondering around in a maze: convinced that the way through was immediately ahead of me, only to find that I had reached a dead-end and would have to re-trace my steps again.

Opportunities would seem to arise, which I would respond to excitedly, only to find that there was nothing in it. I would yearn for those things in the past which I had lost, things which I took for granted at the time, but now saw that they were indeed a blessing from God.

I think my experiences could be likened to Elijah when he ran for his life, because Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him.

¹¹ Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. ¹³ So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

1 Kings 19:11-13 nkjv

Elijah was so frightened that he ran for his life and hid underneath a juniper tree. Then, when he had eaten and calmed down somewhat, God spoke to Him. Elijah was not distracted by the supernatural phenomena of the fire, earthquake and strong wind. Elijah ignored what was happening around him and waited for the still, small voice of God to give him his next instruction.

We miss out on God’s instructions for our lives when we get carried away with the things around us which we assume must be from God, but aren’t. I believe that even signs and wonders (likened to the fire, earthquake and strong wind) can also become a distraction to us if we are seeking after supernatural experiences more than we are seeking after a relationship with God. Signs and wonders have their place in the Body of Christ – especially when it comes to evangelising areas that are steeped in idol worship. But we really have to be careful that we do not get carried away with signs and wonders so that they distract us from our relationship with God through Christ.