Unbelief:

“When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land
and possess my holy mountain” Isaiah 57:13

 

In our Christian walk I believe that there are obstacles that get in the way of our Covenant relationship with Christ. I strongly believe that one of those is the obstacle of, unbelief.

As Christians we can believe in Christ for our salvation in a mere, matter of seconds and then spend the rest of our days believing Him for little more. Our Eternity with Him can be well secured, while the life we live on earth remains rocky and unstable. What does it mean to actually believe in God? Taking a deeper look at this can show us where that obstacle is. Take a look at Genesis 15: 6, ‘Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”  Paul then speaks of the same verse in Romans 4:3 . The Hebrew word for “believe” in the old testament means, to make firm, to stand firm,  to be enduring , to trust and believe. In Romans,  the Greek word for believe means,  to be firmly persuaded as to something, to believe, with the idea of hope and certain expectation. It comes from the Greek word “ pistis” which means ‘faith” when translated into English.  Belief and Faith hold the same concept in both the new and old testament.  Looking at Mark 9: 21 -24 we see a story of honesty and truly trying to find belief.

Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”“From childhood,” he answered.  “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief”

 

We see the boy’s father saying ““I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” What  a sweet and refreshing site of honesty. He did believe, but he needed help overcoming his unbelief.  The Greek word for unbelief means, not worthy of confidence, untrustworthy, a thing to not believe. I think many of us can relate with this father.  We can believe Christ with our whole heart, accepting that He is the Son of God, and we can believe Him for our eternal salvation, yet fail to stand firm in belief and choose to find Him trustworthy each day.  I know I am so guilt of not trusting Him day by day. God is so worthy of our trust , dear one. I love how Moses says it in Numbers 23:19

 “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Can you think of a time, dear one when Christ proved unworthy of your confidence?  My beloved, if we think we have found unfaithfulness in Him I believe that one of three things has happened.

1.      We have misinterpreted His promise

2.      We missed His answer

3.      We simply gave up before Him timed His response.

There is good and bad news with a believer dealing with unbelief. The bad news is, that unbelief cripples our relationship with Him and hinders our walk with Him daily.  The good news is that if we are willing to admit our lack of trust in Him, Christ is more than willing to help us overcome our unbelief. Belief in the abilities and promises of God is a essential prerequisite for fleshing out the liberty we’ve won through HIM ! Understand, dear one that Christ is fully God. He can heal anyone, no matter if the belief of the person is great or small. He is not asking us to believe in our ability to practice unwavering faith. He is asking us purely to believe that He is able!  (Ps 84:12)

‘That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day” 2 Tim 1:12

“He will cover you with his feathers,and under his wings you will find refuge;his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Ps 91:4