One of the biggest challenges in our Christian life is to actually believe what God says. We read many wonderful and mysterious truths in God’s Word, and we tell ourselves that we believe them, but often our heart does not really believe. He wants us to believe what He says so that he can change us and make us one with Him.
If we don’t believe the spiritual truths He is trying to teach us, then his river of life can’t flow freely through us. Unbelief places a dam on his river of life. But knowing this problem still doesn’t purge our unbelief. He says that He loves us, but often we wonder. He says He is always with us, but we so easily believe that He is off in the distance. So we will find as we follow Jesus that we are partially “unbelieving believers”.
But He does not condemn us for this and we should not condemn ourselves. He knows that we are weak and that we need His power to grow and believe. He will help us with our faith if we stay open to Him, and if we admit our unbelief and let Him change our hearts. But we should also exercise the measure of faith He has given us. We can start believing some of the important truths we need to know so that our love for Him and others will grow.
Remember that knowledge of His truths is not an end in itself but is supposed to cause our love to grow. When we believe God’s words, we are believing a person, not a just set of propositions on a piece of paper. If we forget that our purpose is to love God, then we will start to get puffed up over our spiritual knowledge, and we will find ourselves traveling down a spiritual dead end.
EXERCISE
Find a quiet place to sit in silence. Ask yourself these questions. “Do I have any unbelief that hurts my spiritual growth?” “If so can I choose to believe down deep?” “If not, do I really want to believe?” “What keeps my heart from believing?” “What can I do to have more faith?” “Am I willing to admit my unbelief and ask God to change the root problems?” “If I’m really serious about this, is there someone I can talk with to help me through this?”
After reflecting on these questions for awhile begin to sit quietly. Let distracting thoughts float by. Ask God to reveal more about these matters. Ask these questions of God. Be open. Is there anything from your deepest self that your heart or God is saying? Is there anything you are resisting? Is there a deeper insight dawning? Is there a commitment you want to make?
Now reflect on the words below and absorb them for a few minutes. Then pray them out loud when they have settled into you. If you think this practice is helpful then do this once a day for at least a week.
Lord, please reveal to me my hidden doubts and unbelief and wrong beliefs. I open myself up to You and invite Your Spirit to pinpoint them and any of the roots behind them. Help me to discover the false “tapes” that play in the background of my mind. I will keep my heart open to You and invite You to show all these things to me as I go through my daily life. I believe; help my unbelief.
