Believing On the Faithfulness of God

“… if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.  So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

— Mark 11:23-24 (NRSV)

NOTHING comes close to being desperate for God’s faithfulness than injustice.  Nothing quite compares with our desperation in prayer than when we feel maligned.  And faith becomes real when we are so desperate as to be beside ourselves with furious sorrow.

That’s good news.  It’s very good news.  For God is especially present to augment growth and healing for the person ailing due to the perception of a sweeping injustice.

Belief is never more important than when our backs are against the wall.

When our backs are against the wall, all the more is there the compelling option — one way or tother.  But belief, though it’s harder, is first class wisdom when the other choice is bewilderment.

Hope can only return in the presence of belief.  Joy can only be experienced when buffered by belief.  Peace, too, is the gracious portent of belief.  And belief is ever more persuasive when it’s backed into a corner.

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We ought to thank God for trials that force our faith to believe in His provident goodness.  Gratitude for the pain that brings us to our knees before God.

Pain is wonderful in that it brings us to the point of actually believing on the faithfulness of God.

To not believe in God, especially when life is toughest, is to stop believing in ourselves.

There is no risk in trusting our full lives fully to God, because God is fully trustworthy.  And yet it’s only when we do actually fully trust Him that we experience His trustworthiness.

© 2016 Steve Wickham.