Do you believe? Really? What does that even mean?

Does believing simply mean that we believe in who God is, and that He is soveriegn?

Does believing simply mean that we read the Bible and believe in its authenticity?

Does believing simply mean that we believe Jesus is Gods son?

As for me, I think ‘believe’ means much more than that.

What are you typically thinking when life seems to be crashing down around you? When the bills outweigh the available income? When the husband is unfaithful? When the kids are fighting or rebelling? When the boss hands you a slap on the wrist, or worse, a termination slip? When health is failing? When loved ones are hurting?

If you find yourself trying to stay convinced that despite your circumstances or hardships, God is still soverign so all is well, then you are probably the minority.

I can only dare say that when life gets tough, most people are thinking the worst, instead of having the optimistic outlook that God would like us to have.

Most people, myself included at times, jump head first into the game of negative thinkin – with a bunch of what-ifs, whys, and hows – could God let this happen. We may even start to wonder if God is seeing us at all, and to be perfectly honest, why is He not helping?

These types of thoughts always stem from one problem. One problem that is the root of our sin issues… one problem that is at the core of our attitude issues –

UNBELIEF

I know what you are thinking, “But I do believe!”

But what does ‘believe’ really mean?

Do we really believe that He sees us, and that He cares? Do we really believe that He hears our prayers, catches our every tear, hurts for us, and wants to answer us?

If our thoughts ever wonder to that place of doubt, unbelief may have taken root. The truth is, unbelief can take root without our even knowing it sometimes, just because life begins to outweigh our faith.

Even when we love God, and our hearts are set on believing in Him fully, our human nature can cause us to doubt His soveriegnty. Our supernatural will do whatever he can to feed those doubts. And we need to stay aware of the spiritual battle that is going on for our soul. We need to make sure that we are truly believing.

My pastor once said that as unbelief rises, faith decreases. And vice versa – as faith rises, unbelief decreases.

So the key to fighting this quiet disease of unbelief in our hearts – is FAITH.

Matthew 7:21-23 says this – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”