“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” – Mark 9:23
Believing in someone is a lot like loving someone. Both involve making a decision that will influence your behavior toward a certain individual. The decision to believe in someone or love someone is actually a choice that you make, and it is influenced by a number of factors.
The factors that influence a decision to love can be physical attraction, common interests, positive personality qualities, etc., and when some of these factors demonstrate longevity, it may lead an individual to decide to love someone. This is important because there are times when individuals can be very “unlovable,” and if a decision has been made to love that person, then the love remains even in moments when love is not “felt.” Clearly, love is a decision.
Believing in God is also a decision one makes, and like love, there are factors than influence that decision. Perhaps one begins to question things to which God is the only reasonable answer. Maybe something “miraculous” has occurred in someone’s life, and he/she chooses to believe in God. When many positive things happen in a person’s life, it is easy to believe in the Bible, but when serious problems dominate one’s life, the decision to believe in God may not even be considered. When the going gets tough, and it seems as if God is not answering our prayers in the way we think He should, it is our decision to believe that keeps our faith intact. There will be many times in our lives when our faith is shaken, but if you have made a decision to believe in God and the Scriptures, your belief in Him remains. You may not understand, and it may trouble you greatly, but your decision to believe is unshakeable. Why? Because like love, our belief in God is based on Scriptural facts, not on our feelings.
Sadly, in our world people make decisions that come and go. We see that in marriages. A couple makes a decision to stay together until “death do us part,” yet when temptation enters their lives, the marriage crumbles and the decision to stay together “through better or worse” fades away. To help prevent our belief in God from slipping away, He has given us several ways to help increase and solidify our faith in Him.
- Proverbs 3:4 – “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” We need to trust God completely. Relying on human intellect to explain or rationalize the natural world is impossible. The Bible tells us that God’s ways are much higher than our own. (Isaiah 55:9) When we understand this, we begin to understand that there is so much that is beyond humanity’s capabilities or reasoning. Through that, we find the decision to believe in God makes perfect sense.
- Romans 10:17 – “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” It is critical to study the Word of God. As He speaks to us through it, our belief in Him becomes more secure. Take time to know God just as you would take time to know someone whom you would eventually decide to love.
- Proverbs 8:17 – “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” God promises that those who diligently look for Him will find Him.
- James 1:22 – “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Use the measure of faith that you have and build upon it by doing what God tells you to do in His Word. As you reap the blessings of following God’s Word, the reality of God in your life brings validity to your belief in Him.
- Malachi 3:10 – “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” When we put God’s Word into action in our lives, we trust Him to do as He has said. In a sense, we are proving God. Our faith is strengthened when we see God provide for us as He said He would.
Abstract ideas, such as love and belief, cannot be seen to verify their existences. Like true love, true belief is based upon facts, not feelings, and both grow as more evidence is presented to support them. To allow our belief in God to grow, we must seek out supportive evidence through the Bible, the testimonies of others, the ministries of the church, and the illuminations from the Holy Spirit. As our belief in God becomes stronger, we will come to the realization that truly “… with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
‘All things are possible,’ this is his word.
Receive it, ’tis written for you:
Believe in his promises, God cannot fail,
For what he has said, he will do.
Nothing is impossible when you put your trust in God,
Nothing is impossible when you’re trusting in his word;
Hearken to the voice of God to thee,
“Is there anything too hard to me?”
Then put your trust in God alone and rest upon his word,
For ev’rything, O ev’rything!
Yes ev’rything is possible with God!
(from “Nothing is Impossible” by Eugene L. Clark)
“Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” – Isaiah 43:10
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“God said it. I believe it. That settles it for me.” -unknown