I Wish I Believed God...More

God told Eve:

"you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."

Satan told Eve:

“You will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Eve was convinced by Satan that the Lord
did not really intend to keep His promise.

Or maybe she misunderstood God.

Or maybe God was trying to keep a secret from her.
(that would drive most women over the edge)

Bottom line...
She didn't believe God when He made a promise.

But before I get too sanctimonious,
a couple of things in her defense.

1) She had no history with God to know His promises never fail.
2) She had no concept of death...she had never seen it.

Had she known all she knew 5 minutes after... 5 minutes before,
I'm not so sure she would have made the same choice.

This was also the first time she had been lied to.

Nevertheless, she listened, believed and all of
human history changed in one fateful bite.

Let's move to today.

We have the Bible and some 5,000 years
of history to prove He means what He says.

God's promises can be trusted.

He told Noah it was going to rain...It did.

He told Abram he was going to have more
kids than he could count...And he did.

He told Joshua, canaan was theirs...And it was.

He told David, the Messiah was going to come
from his lineage...And He did.

You get the point.
Many promises...All fulfilled.

Jesus also gave us some promises.

Promises like...

"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
and all these things will be added unto you."

or...

"You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

or...

"Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you."

or...

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. "

We have history to show that God's promises always come through.

We are not like Adam and Eve.
We can see a legacy of fulfillment.

You know what's sad?
What's really sad?

Sometimes I still don't believe.
And I suffer great set backs and limit my success
because of my unbelief.

I have no excuse really.
I see God coming through time and time again.

Yet, I still want control.
I still want to call the shots.

In the words of Dean Trune
"I want to be comfortable."

Crazy, huh?

So, even when I read and memorize great verses like-

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more
than I can ask or imagine according to His power at
work within us."

I shrink back.
And my faith leaves me wishing I had more.

Shame really.
Satan still lies. And sometimes I still believe him.
He tells me God's promises are not for me.
He tells me I'm not worthy. Or God's not listening.

I willingly exchange the truth of God for a lie.
Sound familiar?

But today...

Today I resolve to be more like Peter, Andrew, James, John
and the rest, who gave up everything for the sake of the call.

So that when I read verse like this, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ."
I've already grabbed my coat and am out the door.
Pursuing.

Bottom line...
Believing what He says.

RP