STEADY GROUND MINISTRY BLOG
Written Feb 22, 2026
“The Thread of Faith”
In his book “The Road to Find Out” by William J. Wilkins (2023), describing the writer’s journey to a personal relationship with Christ, the author in his chapter entitled “The Thread of Faith” he cites several of those in both the Old and New Testament who, despite their doubts about God or Jesus, kept believing and the Master answered their prayers and directed their lives.
John the Baptist’s mother Elizabeth, and Jesus’ mother Mary, were cousins. The 2 carried what would be their newborns at the same time. But, the author points out, there were major differences: Mary was young while Elizabeth was elderly. When Elizabeth’s husband Zachariah was told by an angel that she was pregnant, he thought it wasn’t possible, telling the angel: “I’m an old man and my wife and well along in years.” For his doubt, his ability to speak was taken for a time and restored only when he had faith, reconsidered and named the son John. Mary, on the other hand, immediately believed the heavenly messenger who told her she was have a son despite never being with a man.
Wilkins then cites Abraham as a model of faith for centuries in the Old Testament and referred to many times in the New Testament. Despite living in the land he resided in for a long time, God asked him to leave his homeland and people and go on foot until He revealed where he wanted Abraham to go. Even though he and his wife Sarah were elderly, both didn’t question God and obeyed. Where God took them to was Canaan, a land which would later be given to their descendants as their homeland.
God then told Abraham his offspring would populate the land but both he and his wife Sarah were elderly. God told them, “a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” God added the offspring would be as many as the stars. Abraham believed God because of his faith.
The author then tells us about when years later, Moses led many of Abraham’s descendants thru the desert towards Canaan. When the people he led began grumbling about not being well cared for on the journey, God sent poisonous snakes to invade where they were staying. Then he told Moses to create a bronze serpent and set it up on a pole saying that anyyone who has been bitten but then looks at the pole, they will live. Many who didn’t look at the serpent pole died from the snake poison. Jesus later used this as an example of faith, as Moses lifted the serpent pole and the Son of Man being lifted up so that “whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life.”
Another example of faith Wilkins uses is Nicodemus. The Pharisees were so pious and acted like they believed in God—claiming their faith in Him—but it was all just a show to make themselves look and feel good. Meanwhile, Nicodemus, who was a prominent Jewish teacher. He taught the people that faith in God would save them from themselves.
And then, there’s the Adam and Eve experience, where 2 humans put more faith in a serpent than in God telling them they can have the entire Garden of Eden but not to eat from the fruit of just one tree. The serpent says eating from the Tree of Good and Evil will make them the same as God. That wasn’t the case.
Wilkins closes this chapter on faith by stating that “believing in what God says is a process so simple that anyone can step into it, no matter what’s in their past, no matter their position in life. There is no waiting period. It costs no money. The fabric of faith is simple, and free.”
Let us pray and strive to accept God’s love and direction for us in our daily walk. That’s showing faith, every day.
