The Cure for Unbelief

"Unbelief is stifling the flow of God's presence and power in our church today." (Quote taken from previous post)

We are hesitant - afraid - to really put ourselves out there and truly believe. We fear disappointment. Worse, if we're gut-level honest, at times we fear that nothing at all will happen, which might poke holes in our decision to believe in God. We're afraid if nothing happens, we will have to justify our belief in God, and maybe we're not sure we can do that. The possibility of believing and not receiving 'results' brings us face to face with our now-wavering faith and the ugly question that lurks somewhere below the surface...'What if God's not real? What if He's not Who He says He is?'

We must recognize that unbelief leads to unbelief. If God cannot, or will not, act in our circumstances when there is unbelief, yet we are afraid to believe because we fear He will not act, then we spin ourselves into a circle of dormant, inactive, ineffective faith, at the core of which lies a seed of doubt with regards to the very existence and/or sovereignty and ability of God Himself.

The remedy for this must be a sweeping epidemic of personal intimacy with the Creator of the universe. It may seem a stretch to seek intimacy with someone whose existence we are, for the moment, unsure of, but it must be if we are to correct the shift of unbelief that is weighing down the Body of Christ. When we know someone personally, it becomes quite difficult to doubt their very existence. The same holds true with knowing God.

As we seek Him, with the determined purpose of knowing the TRUTH, of knowing Him, He will make Himself known. But before any of this can begin to take place, a decision must be made. We must set our minds and keep them set. Regardless of our feelings, we must, in our hearts, rely on the fundamental assumption that God IS and that His Word is true. Not that we believe without reason, but rather we choose to persevere and press on in times of trial, giving God the benefit of the doubt for the time being, and allowing Him the necessary time to do a work in us and for us, that He would be given the opportunity to reveal Himself and make Himself known.

I have walked through this in my own life, facing some monumental, and seemingly insurmountable struggles in my faith. I've faced questions for which I had no answers. I've battled with severe, almost suffocating doubt. I've struggled to pray - to even force myself to say the words because they seemed so absurd. I believe that one factor made the difference in the outcome of my struggles. At the outset, I had determined that I would give God a chance to be known. For the time being, I clung to the foundations that His Word is true. I stayed in His Word, and time and time again, I found answers to the questions; I found peace to quiet the doubt. I found strength to pray when I had no words.

I find myself now on the other side of these struggles, and in the most incredible place. Time and time again, God not only saw me through my trials, but He used them to develop me and help me grow. He revealed His truths, His nature, and His character to me through His Word and through time in prayer. I began to see the evidence of His presence in my life. I began to recognize the sound of His voice, the promptings of His Holy Spirit. I began to know Him, and I began to fall in love with Him - desperately, madly, crazy in love like I never could have imagined. And the more I know Him and love Him, the more my eyes are opened to see more of Him. And the more I see and experience Him, the less room there is for doubt; the greater my courage becomes. I am much more willing now that I was even a year ago to make myself vulnerable in the hands of the Lord, because now that I know Him, my belief in Him is rooted in what I know - what I know from my own personal experiences. My experiences with God have given me more than enough reason to believe in Him, to believe that He is , that He is sovereign, that He is good, that He loves me, and that He is wholly capable.

Knowing Him is the cure for unbelief.