If we REALLY believed?

Oh how our lives would look differently if we really believed God. About everything. All the time. Without fail.

As a Bible believing, Spirit filled, born again follower of Jesus, I would proudly profess that I really believe God. I could give you a whole list of things that I believe to be true. I could tell you about my belief in God, Father Son and Holy Spirit. I could tell you how I believe in His Word. That the Bible is the inerrant word of God...perfect and complete in every way. I could tell you about all of the promises of God and spout off scripture after scripture, and surely I believe all of that to be true.

But do I really believe it? I mean, REALLY. Enough to live it. Enough to trust it. Enough to rest in it.

Are you like me, dear Christian? Do you know it and believe it in your head, and so often fail to really believe it in your heart?

I say again, how different our lives would look if we really believed Him. Radically different! Drastically changed! Indeed, we would be a force to be reckoned with.


Here is a little taste of what we would be like if we truly took God at His word...

*We would be fearless! Oh the power of fear in this world. Fear of man, fear of failure, fear of heights, fear of death, fear of illness, fear of tragedy, fear of evil, fear of cockroaches (which I guess should go in the previous category...). How much time and energy we waste on misguided fear! I am preaching to myself here, as fear is my greatest foe against my trust in God. And yet, God is most certainly not silent on this issue. I cannot even count the number of times that God says "fear not" or "do not be afraid".
Isaiah 41:10 says "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Isaiah 43:1-5 says "But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior...you are precious in My sight...you are honored and I love you...Do not fear, for I am with you.."

Go back and read that again and this time put your name in place of Jacob and Israel. Do you realize the vastness of this promise? If I truly believed this all the time and took God at His word, this alone would have the power to radically change me. And this is but the tip of the iceberg! If you struggle with fear (as I would suspect we all do at some level), I challenge you to go and look it up. Spend some time with God on this issue. Read His promises that He has given personally to you in His Word. And believe Him. You will not be the same.


*We would pray! From everything that I have learned about God and from God, I am beginning to realize something that is both incredible and overwhelming at the same time. I am beginning to realize just how BIG our God is, and that even my wildest comprehension of His vastness is but a drop in the ocean of the reality of it. God is showing me that He is so much bigger than I give Him credit for. He is all powerful, all knowing, ever present. Everything is His. Everyone is under His Authority. And this God, who is Mighty, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Victorious even over death, invites me to come to Him and pray. "Come," He says, "share your heart with me. Sit and visit. Tell me anything and everything. And no matter what, I will love you. I will help you. I will heal you. I will mend your broken heart. I will provide for you. I will protect you. Ask for ANYTHING in my name and I will give it to you (Jn 14:13)." Wow! What if we really believed that? What if we truly believed that the God of the Universe, possessing every resource and having all power, longed to hear from us and moved in power when we asked Him for things. I suspect that if we truly knew who He was and the incredible power that there is in prayer that we would be a people who prayed a great deal more than we do. Not out of obligation, but out of desperation and desire. That we would spend less time trying to fix things ourselves, talking about things, complaining, etc, and more time praying about them. Not boring, stiff, formal prayer; not "hurry up and pray so I can eat" kind of prayer, but intimate and passionate communication with a Powerful God who hears and responds.

How else would we look different if we always believed Him? We would always trust Him. We would be kept in perfect peace at all times, regardless of the circumstances. We would know that we are loved infinitely more than we can imagine by our Holy God, and freely pour that love out on others. We would bear no shame, but praise Him for the restoration and redemption that we have in Christ. We would love always, rejoice always, forgive always. We would be filled with the fruits of the Spirit, we would serve, we would love the "least of these." Our words would always bless, encourage, edify, and be seasoned with grace. We would build His kingdom instead of building our own. We would expectantly wait for His return and fervently share the Gospel with a lost and dying world. We would worship.

Oh that I could expand on every one of these and more. Some of you are probably surprised that I didn't, knowing how long winded I can be. :) My prayer for you and for me is that we will live like we really believe God. That we will take Him at His Word. That His word will not just be a book of stories and promises and good morals that we believe in our heads, but it would be a powerful, life giving, world altering force. I pray that we as we have a greater revelation of who He is and learn to really believe Him in our hearts, that He will transform us through the power of His Word and His Spirit and that we will be radically different for His Glory.