Believe God's Testimony

"Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time."  - Oswald Chambers

Well-known 19th century preacher, C. H. Spurgeon, claimed that 98 percent of the people he met—including the criminals he visited in England’s prisons—told him that they believed the Bible to be true. Even so, the vast majority had never made a personal, life-changing commitment to Jesus Christ. For them, “believe” was not an active verb.

Major corporations spend millions of dollars annually on marketing research and development trying to convince consumers to purchase their products. In 2011, Google earned $37.9 billion dollars; of which 96% came from advertising alone! Obviously, industries are not afraid to open their wallets in order to persuade us to open ours.

Yet, when it comes to Christianity, and belief in the Son of God, it's not so straightforward. During the course of everyday life, many accept human testimony (good or bad) without any hesitation; and would think anyone who would do otherwise as illogical or even absurd.

People testify to, and about, this or that. This is something that comes naturally to us as human beings. If something catches our attention in a testimony we tend to act on it either positively or negatively.

But why is it so difficult for us to believe in the greater testimony that comes from God Perhaps it has to do with the fact that we tend to be skeptical about things that we can't see, touch, hear, taste, or smell.

If God would invite us to lunch so that he could explain this then maybe it be easier to believe his testimony. He could share pictures of his Son (Jesus), answer some questions, we'd share a few laughs, eat some good food, and afterwards promise to get together and do this again soon.

Unfortunately, this isn't going to happen. All we have to go on is the faith that His testimony is true. Our entire belief in His testimony hinges on this (1 John 5:10). What is God's testimony? It is that He has given us eternal life through the life of his Son (1 John 5:11-12).

The key verb in all of this is "believe." This makes perfect sense because when we "believe" in something we "trust in or rely on" it. For many, as the saying goes, "seeing is believing." This isn't necessarily so when it comes to believing the testimony of God.

It's a fact that it's easier for some to believe in human testimony than God's. Just remember, human testimony is given by another flawed, imperfect human being just like you (Psalm 118:8; Psalm 146:3). Conversely, God's testimony comes from He who is total perfection; without blemish or sin (Deuteronomy 32:4).

Scripture: Psalm 19:1; 2 Samuel 22:31; Romans 12:2; Psalm 139:14; Psalm 147:5

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me hold on to my faith. Even in the darkest hour stay with me, and show me Your way always. Amen

May God bless!

Elise