Being Fully Persuaded

This is what I'm learning these days: that walking in faith is a lot harder than it seems. Because believing something and acting as if you believe something is not always the same thing. When you act as if you believe something you run the risk of being a fool. You put yourself out there so there is no turning back. Scary? Sure. But the reward is so HUGE. Not only do we get more of God, but we are rewarded even beyond that. When we believe, God says that HIS OWN POWER is available to us.

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritence in the saints and his incomparably great power power for us who believe!" Ephesians 1:19

Believe actually means "actively believing" or "believing as you go." What I found that I do, however, is I'll believe for a while, until a situation seems to happen that is contrary to what I believe, and immediately I'll respond with, "well, I guess that's not what God was saying/wanting/doing/etc after all. It's always a case of "I must have read God wrong," instead of "I need to keep believing, because God CAN do this." My faith is SO weak.

So that's why this lesson has been so difficult for me. I hate to play the fool. I would rather bow out in order to save face instead of seeing a situation through and allowing God the time to work.

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." Romans 4:18 -22

"Against all hope." If anyone had a reason to doubt God's promise, it was Abraham who was almost 100 years old and still no Isaac. Or Noah, who was building a boat even in the midst of a drought. When I compare my situation to theirs, what I risk is absolutely nothing. But here's the deal: these guys LIVED as though the promise was already a reality. I love the verse immediately preceding Romans 4:18: "the God who gives life to the dead and calls the things that are not as though they were (v17)." What if I lived every day calling the things that are not as though they were already a reality, just because God promised it? I might feel like a fool - I'm sure Noah and Abraham had their moments, but without weakening their faith. That means every day I have to choose to claim the promises of God, and live as though they are already a reality.

SO, what does that mean? Well, lately, that means almost continually reminding myself of God's word. Remembering that the power available to me in EVERY situation is the RESURRECTION power. Now, I may be believing God for some big things, but I guarantee you that none of them compare to raising someone from the dead.

It also means waking up, and AGAIN giving the situation over to God as a sacrifice of praise and trust. Because it IS a sacrifice: to surrender what is comfortable to me (giving up and moving on would be so much easier after all) and say, "okay. one more time, one more day I'll trust you and believe you in this situation." Being FULLY PERSUADED that God has the power to do what he has promised (Romans 4:21).

So today, I'm fully persuaded that He has to power to do what He has promised. And tomorrow morning, I may have to wake up and do this all over, but I will choose to live as though what isn't, is. So what is the promise that you are struggling to believe God for? Healing? Freedom from sin or addiction? A relationship? A child? No matter the situation, God's incomparably great resurrection power is available to those who believe!