This scripture exposes a truth we often avoid: not all faith is liberating faith. Some faith is shallow, fragile, and easily shattered. Some faith is built on what God does, not on who God is. And that kind of faith cannot sustain oppressed people, wounded people, or struggling communities.
Jesus knew that a people who only follow Him for signs will abandon Him when the signs stop. Liberation requires a deeper foundation. It requires a faith rooted in identity—Christ’s identity and our identity as God’s beloved. Signs may inspire us, but they cannot anchor us. Only truth can do that.
In John’s Gospel, every sign points beyond itself. Water becomes wine to show that God upgrades our lives. Bread multiplies to show that scarcity is not the final word. Lazarus walks out of the tomb to show that death does not get the last say. But Jesus insists that signs alone are not enough. Liberation comes when we trust the One who performs the signs, even when He chooses not to perform them in the way we hoped.
Oppressed people know disappointment. We know what it feels like to pray for healing that doesn’t come, to ask for relief that seems delayed, to watch injustice prosper while righteousness struggles. But Jesus calls us to a faith that survives disappointment—a faith that refuses to bow to despair, refuses to surrender to pressure, refuses to question the rightness of our cause.
Superficial faith collapses under pressure. Liberating faith stands tall. Superficial faith asks, “What has God done for me lately?” Liberating faith declares, “God is still on the throne!” Superficial faith returns to bondage when the road gets hard. Liberating faith presses forward, knowing that the God who overturned tables in the Temple still overturns systems that oppress His people.
Liberation requires conviction. Conviction requires courage. And courage requires a faith that is rooted not in miracles, but in the Messiah.
(We invite your comments. Feel free to share this devotion with your friends and invite them to subscribe by forwarding their email address to the Pastor at: fredjeffsmith@gmail.com.)
Mornings with Shiloh airs on WVLA Channel 33 each weekday at 6:58 a. m. CST. Mornings with Shiloh is available on our Youtube channel at 8:00 a.m. CST.
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO ACCESS OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/@ShilohMBCBR/videos
Want to get more involved at Shiloh?
Browse our Ministries