But God Said

Christine Wyrtzen post:  BELIEF AND UNBELIEF

"Now, they will say, "We have no king.  What can he do for us?"  They speak mere words, with worthless oaths they make covenants; and judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field."  Hosea 10:3-4

            God's people have arrived at a place where they have no confidence in Him anymore.  They believe Him to be powerless.  Anytime I cease to see the vastness of God, the issue at hand is not about a God who has grown anemic.  It is about me and how the enemy has deceived me, through my adversity, about who God really is.  Somewhere along the path, I have given up on prayer.  I have fallen into the black hole of unbelief.  I am on a dead end street, traveling at high speeds, not knowing that a crash is ahead.  

            Here's how it works. At the point where belief and unbelief meet at the fork in the road, self-preservation is born.  Since I believe God to be impotent, I rise to the occasion to take care of myself.  With an arrogance born of an insecurity I am not yet willing to acknowledge, I concoct ways to cope and make sure I succeed.  This is all a reaction to the lie that I serve a powerless God.  My puffed up words are a cover-up for a godless reality.  I do not realize that my plans, oaths, and new alliances will be wasted.

                What is the answer to unbelief and a powerless life?  To stop everything and force-feed the Word into my heart. To confess my unbelief and my fears.  To go back to the specific place where belief ended and unbelief was conceived.  To ask the Holy Spirit to speak to me about that tenuous place so that I can understand it from His perspective.

            Healing from unbelief has two realities. Most lies come from wounds I sustained. Reality #1.) Jesus is tender with my wounds. He is the gentle healer. His heart is for me and He grieves over wrongs done to me. But, reality #2.) I must be tough on the sin of unbelief.  As a result of wounding, I chose to believe lies about God and myself that, to heal, I must identify as specifically as I can. I must repent for believing them and acting on them. 

            Healing will come when I find the corresponding truths from God's own mouth that confront my lies. I'll begin to live differently when I recite God's Words out loud.  ("I once believed _________ but God said ______________.") This will take time. There must be a daily resolve to keep embracing what God says. What follows if I am diligent? Spiritual prosperity.  An enlarged view of God. The glorious freedom that comes from living in truth.

You meant it! "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." I believe.  Amen