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Written by Jim Guffey, August 14, 2005
Welcome! You have arrived at a place that can change your life for the better, a million times over! Can you imagine,
no worries, no fears, no anxieties and no failures? Is that really possible?
This discussion focuses on unbelief; that is, a Christian's inability to accept the promises of God, as given by God,
to us, for time and all eternity. Does this apply to you? Do you suffer from an inability to accept the promises of God
like most of us? Like most Christians today? Really?
Do you ever worry about your health? How about finances or relationships? Your children or perhaps your grandchildren?
Do you ever feel depressed or maybe like giving up? Ever get angry or perhaps harbor bitterness over incidents from long
ago? Do you wonder about your salvation? Your retirement? Worried about your spouse?
The reason we worry about these things is because we fail to believe the promises of God. Don't turn me off because I'm
not advocating a quick switch to perfection. The goal of this article is to allow us to become aware of what inhibits our
growth in Christ and what allows the enemy the greatest opportunity. Please have patience and read on.
Go back up a couple of paragraphs. Find one of those items (or maybe 5 or 10) that apply to you or fill in your own.
Now fill in the blank in the following sentence:
The following problem in my life is bigger than God:_________________________.
Don't want to fill it in? Of course not, I don't. But in reality, anything that causes us to worry or be concerned,
to fear or to be bitter needs to be in that space. Because if I'm afraid of losing my job, I am inasmuch as saying that I
do not trust in the Lord with all my heart. Even though He has promised to take care of my needs in many different places.
Because if I lose my job, I lose my income and my ability to provide for my family. That's my responsibility. I have to
do it. Therefore I can't trust God. Where's my faith? In I and me.
What is that? It is, very simply put, the rope I cannot cut. I simply cannot understand how, if I lose my job I can
still support my family. I must take control.
I beg you at this point if you haven't read the short article "Cut the Rope" click the link below and do it
now.
Go to "Cut the Rope"
OK, so now we understand a little about the rope and what our rope might be. And we understand our need not to cut that rope.
Because we can feel the security of that rope and it requires faith to cut the rope for something we cannot feel. For the
promises of God.
The Bible says in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life." The Bible says that.
Now, if the Bible says it can we believe it? You're saying, "Of course we believe it or we wouldn't be here now."
That is good. So the Bible says that God loved us so much He gave His son for us, that if we believe we will live with Him
for ever. And we believe it, and it is, and we rarely question it (hopefully).
Let us talk about belief. The dictionary defines belief this way:
To have firm faith, especially religious faith.
Firm faith. Unyielding faith. But what is faith? The Bible tells us it is the evidence of things not seen. Think about
that. You believe in what you can't see. Worse yet, you have to cut the rope of what you can see and feel to exercise the
faith in what you can't see. Now that is scary.
A couple of examples of what Jesus thought was great faith:
The centurion in Matthew chapter 8:5-13 had great faith because he believed Jesus was able and willing to heal his servant
even though the family was not Jewish. Jesus "marvelled at so great faith." And the woman who came to Him on behalf
of her child in Matthew 15:21-28 took some tough words and still would not be turned away. Instead she continued asking Him
for what she knew He could give. His response? "O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt".
In both of these examples the persons requesting help were not even members of the Jewish community yet they believed and
had faith that Jesus could and would help them.
Then, to have firm faith means that we would rely on the promises of God to the exclusion of all else even when it didn't
seem, in our understanding, to be the right thing to do. Like in both of the cases above. Doubtless these people, especially
the centurion whose servant was so sick that not going to a doctor or a different doctor jeopardized his very life. He would
never have wasted time on Jesus if he didn't really have faith in Him.
So let us talk a little more about what happens when we don't truly have faith and don't truly trust in God.
When my wife decides she wants a divorce and my friends and relatives find out about it, they are watching for a reaction.
You see, when things are going well I stand up for Jesus and tell them how wonderful it is to be a Christian. I expound
on the virtues of Christianity and the goodness of God to the exclusion of all else; when things are going good. In fact,
many of my friends and neighbors get tired of hearing me talk about how wonderful Jesus is. Now they are watching my life
fall apart, and what do they see? One of two things.
What they might see, is a follower of Christ who doesn't change attitudes or perspectives about what it means to be a
Christian when things get tough. Someone who continues to believe the same things he believed when things were going well.
Somewhat like Job. As things fell apart by worldly standards Job maintained his faith in his God even though he suffered
a bit from self-righteousness. He never overly worried or turned his back on God. And this was a tremendous testimony to
the people watching him (and there had to be many) and to his God.
Or, they might see a follower of Christ who, when the times are bad, openly exclaims to the world that God and his son
Jesus Christ are liars and can't be trusted. That this whole Jesus and Christianity thing was some kind of social program
or experiment that went awry. That it is all a bad dream, a nightmare or an outright fraud
JESUS IS A FRAUD! GOD IS A LIAR!
This Is Too Hard, Who Can Hear It
It's Tough But Let's Go on
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