The Bible makes it clear in Titus 1:2 that God cannot lie, so why do we have such a hard time believing what He has said about us and the situations we're in?
If we are to be frank, we struggle to believe the Lord's word because we've been conditioned to not believe what we hear, read, see, and think. All around us are liars and we ourselves have participated in the deception of others. How can we then believe what someone says to us? What more a God we've never seen? Plus, having listened to the wrong voices, we've experienced disappointments and broken heartedness. Believing that someone, anyone is telling us the truth is a tall order.
And that inability to trust what we hear translates to our relationship with the Lord. As a result, we struggle to believe what He's said to us about our very selves, talk less of the things we are going through.
Yet, a lot of us are struggling with issues that we no longer need to be burdened by. And one key reason is that we have failed to believe God's word to us on the issue. Many of us are trapped in cycles of insecurity, forgetting Psalm 139:14, which tells us that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." Before we started walking with the Lord, we were rejected by human beings and expect to be treated that way by Him. Meanwhile, God made us in His own image (Genesis 1:27). And for those who submit to His Son, He placed His very Spirit in them (2 Corinthians 1:22). We don't understand that He has made us the very symbol of might that is why we are called the royal diadem He holds in His hand in Isaiah 62:3.
When we face troubles, His word on the issue has already been spoken from the beginning and will not change. This is why He has said that even if a nursing mother would forget the baby suckling at her breast, He will never forget us (Isaiah 49:15). He reassures us in the scriptures that everything we are going through will surely work out for our good, no matter how it seems or what it looks like (Romans 8:28). We can look at the Bible and how the Lord rescued people from their challenges. Jehoshaphat and his people believed and praised the Lord, and their enemies attacked each other (2 Chronicles 20). When Sennacherib threatened, King Hezekiah didn't create His own solution and God systematically eradicated his enemy (2 Kings 18-19). Paul and Silas worshiped and the prison doors opened (Acts 16).
God is still in the business of doing great things. The issue is that we have to choose to believe His word on every thing we are going through. For that to happen, we have to put our distrusting nature to the side. We have to be vulnerable with God and accept that He might not do things how and when we expect. He might even surprise us. We have to remember that whenever He decides to act is the right time. After all, He is the God who can be 'late' and yet be on time. And we have to ignore the reality around us, just as Jairus did, not allowing fear and disbelief to settle into our hearts so we don't miss the miracle on the way. We have to put our faith to work, knowing that we do not walk by sight as followers of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:7).
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CLOSING PRAYER
Father, thank You for another opportunity to gather in Your name and presence. To You be all the glory.
Thank you for teaching us this day and enabling us to learn from the Bible. May your teachings take root in us and glorify your name.
I pray for today's participants the blessing contained in Psalm 121:5-8 - The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
IJMN, AMEN.