The “IF” Factor in Believing…

It never ceases to amaze me (and other well-worn clichés) how many folks there are that believe in God, but don’t believe in God!  The idea that some folks (God bless ’em) go their whole lives confessing their belief in God yet never receiving a blessed thing from Him seems a little crazy to me.  The idea thing behind this believing thing is that some-thing actually happens.  If God can’t do anything for me beyond what I can do for myself, He would kinda “suck” in the God-business wouldn’t He?  (LOL Just makin’ a point Lord)  Just follow me and ignore my apparent irreverence for a little bit.  The truth behind believing in God and subsequently believing God is that “stuff happens.”  (You’ve probably seen the bumper sticker!)  If God says He will do such and such, my job is to wrap my around what He said and actually see it come to pass.  If I have a need and my need isn’t met or my prayers “seemingly” aren’t answered, then there must be something wrong somewhere.  I don’t know if you have read much about God, but He seems to be pretty good at His job.  I mean raising the dead?   That’s pretty spectacular isn’t it?  How about healing a man who was born blind?  Pretty sure that’s better than Lasek!   Sometimes folks seem to stagger (myself included at times) at “how” exactly God is going to get the job done.  Or maybe we just don’t understand fully.  You might even say, “Well, I don’t know He could do it!”  So, here’s a thought… We also don’t know how babies grow in the womb.  Oh we know they grow, but how is still a mystery.  What about plants?  We get a seed; cover it with some dirt; add some water and it grows.  How?  LOL Who knows, but it does.  Refusing to believe something God says He can and will do is like refusing to plant watermelon seeds because we can’t see or feel or smell or taste any life in them!  Drop the little seeds in the dirt and watch what happens!  Believing God is just that simple.  Quit being so smart and let Someone smarter go to work for you.

If God makes a promise that He will do something “if” we believe, our job is to believe.  Hoping so doesn’t get the job done.  Wishing doesn’t get the job done.  As my Dad used to say, “Wish in one hand and sh** in the other and see which one gets filled up first!”  (Hey, that’s my Dad okay?)  Wise Pops, very wise!  Yet, we seem to think things work that way, don’t we?  We shoot some words up in God’s direction, wait a day or so, then conclude nothing happened and promptly give up.  The truth is we didn’t believe in the first place!  Believing is a state of full mental persuasion.  But guess what folks, you have to persuade yourself.  All of us on Earth have been conditioned to believe facts, not truth.  Here’s a handy little fact test.  According to the medical community, is it possible to bring dead people back to life?  (Now don’t hedge, just answer!)  According to the best physicians can you fix the vision of a man born blind?  Wait, wasn’t there a guy once in a movie?  No, he went blind.  How about instantly repairing a man lame from his mother’s womb?  Withered hand?  You see what I’m saying?  The great battle that takes place in your mind is overcoming the “apparent” facts so you can believe (like a little child) what God said!  Quit being so smart!  The “IF” factor in believing is “IF” you can get your mind to believe despite the gnarly facts!

There was a man in the Bible whose son was possessed with devil spirits that were busy about trying to kill his son.  (Now if you just shrugged and chuckled a little at that, you are unaware of something you need to be very aware of!)  Ignorance is never bliss!  Anyway, he came to the disciples for deliverance for his son.  The disciples had already experienced many signs, miracles and wonders.  Oh, they knew how this believing thing worked.  Yet, for some reason they could not cast the spirit out!  There was a big crowd gathering so it must have been sort of embarrassing.  So Jesus shows up and the father said I asked your disciples to cast the spirit out and they could not.  (More embarrassment)  So, curiously, Jesus asked how long this was going on.  The father replied, since he was a child.   Hmmm… Jesus asked that question because when children are young, it is the parents job to do the believing for them.  Yes, that’s right, the parents job.  So, the father said, “IF, you can do anything have compassion on us and help us!”   Sounds fair enough, doesn’t it?  How many times have people said things like that to me?   “Okay man if this believing thing really works, pray for my healing.”  Nothing happens…”see it doesn’t work!”  ;-/ So then Jesus, unlike me and the disciples wasn’t caught in the trap.  He challenged the man by saying, “IF, you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes!”  Jesus took that humongous “IF” that the Father gave first to the disciples and next to him and gave it back to the father where it belonged!   You will never, ever get a single prayer answered until you take responsibility for that big “IF” and believe!  Is it easy?  Rarely!  There will always be a large body of evidence to convince you of something far less than what God has promised.  Always!  So, you take charge of that beautiful mind that God gave you and persuade it to believe what God promised with no reservations; none!  Then you too can proudly display the “stuff happens” bumper sticker!

So, when you find yourself in one of life’s OMG jams, don’t panic, don’t turn to booze; don’t get mad at God for somehow letting it happen.  Instead start working with your mind in that very moment to get what you got coming to you from God.  It’s not just how life is when you are getting yanked around from pillar to post!  It’s not normal or natural to suffer, get defeated and be kicked around!  Normal is for God to answer your prayers; heal you; fix your situation; solve your dramas!  Get out of your own way and allow God to lovingly show you how He got the job title!  If you are willing to really commit to it and stop wishing your life away, God will literally blow your mind!  Then, you will be the one writing the blogs!  Haha

So, like Jesus said, be not afraid, only believe!  Oh and don’t forget your bumper sticker!