Believe It... Or Not.
Do you believe God?
I'm not asking if you believe in God, as in do you believe he exists. I'm asking do you believe God, as in do you take Him at His word.
Many of the challenges we face in our spiritual life are rooted in unbelief. We believe that God exists, but we struggle to remember that His promises are more than niceties and parables.
Don't agree? Okay, let me show you. Let's talk about prayer.
Paul writes in Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
I wouldn't be shocked if you'd heard this before. In fact, I wouldn't even be mildly surprised. It's a popular verse. Many Christians quote it, but do we believe it. From the deepest parts of our souls to the forefront of our rational thinking, do we honestly believe that we need not be worried about things because we can bring our requests before the Almighty God and he will give us a peace that will surpass any human understanding?
Of course not! If we really believed this as much as we claim to, wouldn't we be living it out? Wouldn't we be petitioning God all the time?! Would we ever be anxious about tests or sickness or weight or other's views of us?
And how about this one-- how often do you tell someone you'll pray for them, and then never get around to it? I know this happens much too often with me. God has told us, "Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." So why don't we do this? Maybe because we don't believe the door will be opened... we believe what God really meant to say was, "Pound on the door for a couple hours and if you're lucky, I'll be around."
So we don't knock in the first place. We sit on the doorstep and lament our situation. Or worse yet, we wonder why God has forgotten us. Sometimes we even ask others to pray for us without ever thinking to ask God ourselves. I know I do.
And this unbelief touches more than just our prayer life; it is a disease that cripples our entire bodies, robbing us of our spiritual strength and leaving us worn. We don't believe in the power of forgiveness to heal. We don't believe in the power of grace to forgive. We don't believe in the power of God's strength to keep us strong. We don't believe in the power of miracles.
Perhaps saddest of all, we don't believe in the power of the cross: to forgive, to connect, to heal, to bring life.
And that is our problem. We read stories of people like Jonah and we rob them of their power by smiling and saying, "That's nice, God. And the moral of that story was... you can run but you can't hide!" We fail to imagine the reality of a man, trapped inside a fish, desperate to escape the smell, the burning acid, and the constant gurgles and splashes.
We have no problem believe in the Jesus Christ of yesterday but we easily forget that he is also the Jesus Christ of today, the Jesus Christ of forever.
Without ever realizing it, we have stopped believing God.
Thus we rob ourselves. Of forgiveness. Of mercy. Of grace. And of the gifts of prayer and miracles and healing.
Our faith cannot move mountains simply because we have not the faith to ask the mountain to move.
I'm not asking if you believe in God, as in do you believe he exists. I'm asking do you believe God, as in do you take Him at His word.
Many of the challenges we face in our spiritual life are rooted in unbelief. We believe that God exists, but we struggle to remember that His promises are more than niceties and parables.
Don't agree? Okay, let me show you. Let's talk about prayer.
Paul writes in Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
I wouldn't be shocked if you'd heard this before. In fact, I wouldn't even be mildly surprised. It's a popular verse. Many Christians quote it, but do we believe it. From the deepest parts of our souls to the forefront of our rational thinking, do we honestly believe that we need not be worried about things because we can bring our requests before the Almighty God and he will give us a peace that will surpass any human understanding?
Of course not! If we really believed this as much as we claim to, wouldn't we be living it out? Wouldn't we be petitioning God all the time?! Would we ever be anxious about tests or sickness or weight or other's views of us?
And how about this one-- how often do you tell someone you'll pray for them, and then never get around to it? I know this happens much too often with me. God has told us, "Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." So why don't we do this? Maybe because we don't believe the door will be opened... we believe what God really meant to say was, "Pound on the door for a couple hours and if you're lucky, I'll be around."
So we don't knock in the first place. We sit on the doorstep and lament our situation. Or worse yet, we wonder why God has forgotten us. Sometimes we even ask others to pray for us without ever thinking to ask God ourselves. I know I do.
And this unbelief touches more than just our prayer life; it is a disease that cripples our entire bodies, robbing us of our spiritual strength and leaving us worn. We don't believe in the power of forgiveness to heal. We don't believe in the power of grace to forgive. We don't believe in the power of God's strength to keep us strong. We don't believe in the power of miracles.
Perhaps saddest of all, we don't believe in the power of the cross: to forgive, to connect, to heal, to bring life.
And that is our problem. We read stories of people like Jonah and we rob them of their power by smiling and saying, "That's nice, God. And the moral of that story was... you can run but you can't hide!" We fail to imagine the reality of a man, trapped inside a fish, desperate to escape the smell, the burning acid, and the constant gurgles and splashes.
We have no problem believe in the Jesus Christ of yesterday but we easily forget that he is also the Jesus Christ of today, the Jesus Christ of forever.
Without ever realizing it, we have stopped believing God.
Thus we rob ourselves. Of forgiveness. Of mercy. Of grace. And of the gifts of prayer and miracles and healing.
Our faith cannot move mountains simply because we have not the faith to ask the mountain to move.
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