"I Cannot See It but I know and Believe It!"

Reflections4Life™ November 4, 2018

“I Cannot See It but I Know and Believe It!”

“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:6-7

Scripture Contemplation: Joshua 22; Psalm 50; Proverbs 16:6; Acts 3:16; Hebrews 11; James 1

©Ruthe McDonald.

There

 comes a time in our walk with God when we have to decide: Are we going to believe only what we can see or, are we going take God at His word, knowing, and believing in our hearts that His word is the truth? Beloveds, it is time to put on our big girl panties and big boy underwear and start walking the talk that we often profess to others but seldom believe in our hearts.

I decree that this week’s Reflections will be a continued source of encouragement and inspiration for your heart mind and soul. What have we ever done to merit the favor and promises of God? Our thoughts alone would condemn us had it not been for the blood of Jesus. Stir up your faith this week. Meditate on the goodness of God; remembering every promise. Exercise your faith muscles as you wait upon the manifestations of the promised blessings of God by spending intimate time with the Father and writing down His promises and visions for you.

It is a Faith Walk

Now more than ever is a crucial and critical time for people of faith. We are losing those we love and ourselves to a spirit of agnosticism and apatheism. Many are falling away from their belief in God and living a life that is pleasing and acceptable to God. Instead, we are pulling away and abandoning our faith, hope, and beliefs. We are so wounded; bound by those wounds, we are passing ideologies of brokenness and unbelief onto our children, leaving them vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy, and worse—with no hope; the very foundation of faith.

Christian agnostics hold that it is difficult or impossible to be sure of anything beyond the basic tenets of the Christian faith. They believe that God or a higher power exists, that Jesus may have a special relationship with God and is in some way divine, and that God should be worshipped. [1]

Apatheism is the attitude of apathy towards the existence or non-existence of god(s). It is more of an attitude rather than a belief, claim, or belief system. An apatheist is someone who is not interested in accepting or rejecting any claims that gods exist or do not exist. The existence of god(s) is not rejected but may be designated irrelevant. [2]

I get it; it can be very hard to see or believe that there is a loving and just God looking out for us and who is answering prayers when we are faced with the atrocities that are taking place not only in the world but also in our own lives and homes. It is as though we are fighting a losing battle; charging up hills that are a mudslide. Every step we take, we seem to slide back two steps. In the process, we are losing sight of the vision and losing hope, our hearts getting cold and stony.

Hold Onto Hope

This is a faith walk. A difficult walk at times, yes, but nonetheless a faith walk. We walk by faith and not by sight. We do not go by what we feel. Feelings are subject to change every day like the direction of the wind. Our faith is built on hope, and what we are believing and our expectations of God. If we lose hope, we lose the foundation of our faith and everything that we hold dear.  

Hebrews 11:1-3 11 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.

Beloved, I get it! I truly get the heartaches, the wounds caused by those who call themselves believers, the “Church” not acting like or being a safe haven, the prayers that seem to have gone unanswered, the requests not fulfilled. I get it. I get that it can take a toll on your faith and slowly distinguish the hope that we have in our hearts.

This is when we must dig in our heels and dig into our word and our intimate time with God. We need to constantly feed our spirit with what God is saying; reminding ourselves of His word, His promises while starving ourselves from the diet of rhetoric and cancerous thoughts that are surrounding us in this world of lies and greed. We forget at times, that the world is not a friend of God, we are. The world is the Devil’s playground, and he does not play fair. But glory to God, we have the covering of our heavenly Father. The assurance of His blood that covers us, and His grace and mercy that is extended to us every day we surrender and place our faith and hope in Him and not solely in ourselves, man, or money.

Be Tenacious

Numbers 14:6-9 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, members of the scouting party, ripped their clothes and addressed the assembled People of Israel: “The land we walked through and scouted out is a very good land—very good indeed. If God is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land that flows, as they say, with milk and honey. And he’ll give it to us. Just don’t rebel against God! And don’t be afraid of those people. Why we’ll have them for lunch! They have no protection and God is on our side. Don’t be afraid of them!”

When it comes to your faith, be tenacious. Do not let go of what God has spoken and placed in your heart. Meditate on it day and night. Be like Joshua and Caleb when they came back from spying out the promised land. Though there were giants in the land, their focus was not on the problems or possible hindrances it was on the promises of God. They saw what God had long ago spoken to their hearts and minds. They saw the truth in His words. What they had believed and known as truth in their hearts before they could actually see it, was now a fulfilled reality. The obstacles did not matter. The Giants held no recourse for them. The spoken word, the promises of God trumped all of that, causing their faith to soar and their hope to be justified.

My Beloveds, may the spirit of peace and prosperity find permanent rest in your lives. I decree that every good thing that God has ordained for your life will become evident to you. Beloveds, you may not be able to physically see it or touch the promises…yet! But know and believe in your heart all that God has spoken to You. Do not place your concentration on what you can see in the natural, being discouraged by the giants in the land, and the opposition the enemy represents. Instead, hold onto hope, and remember what God has spoken and already has done. He is the same God—yesterday, today, and forever more. Have faith. You are blessed. Now go…and be a blessing!

©2018. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved.

[1] [2] Wikipedia