We say we believe. But we sure don’t act like it.
If you went out and asked 100 random people what Jesus commanded people to do most often, you’d likely get several answers quite a bit. Be kind. Love your neighbor. That sort of thing.
They’d be wrong. It may be hard to pin down exactly, the best answer would probably be something along the lines of “Don’t Worry” or “Don’t be afraid.” Jesus says some version of it constantly.
Stop being afraid. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Don’t let your heart be troubled.
We nod along and act like we believe it. If you ask people if they trust God, we say yes without blinking. Ask if we believe He’s in control, that He said He’d work things out to His own purposes, and you’ll get another yes. All of it with a straight face.
Then we lie awake at night worrying about bills. Or fretting about something that happened in a place we couldn’t locate on a map, and might not have even known about if we’d put our phones down more often.
We build an entire mental prison out of things that haven’t happened yet and might never happen, while the stuff sitting right in front of us, the stuff we could actually do something about, gets ignored.
Mostly because we’re too worn out from worrying to touch it.
We are reasonably good at saying the right things, but our actions don’t back up that we actually believe what we say. Sometimes we will even admit to this and say maybe if we just had a sign it would be easier to believe.
Don’t bet on it.
The Israelites watched God divide the sea and wipe out the enemy pursuing them. Then God started raining bread on their camp for food. Moses told them not to keep it until morning.
Some of them did anyway.
You’d think after witnessing miracles in the recent past they’d have listened. But apparently they still weren’t quite convinced that the God who had just saved them was going to provide again tomorrow.
We do the same thing, although maybe not as dramatically.
Our lives tend to be a cycle of (usually) minor problems, followed by despair, then it all works out somehow. Then repeat. Ask yourself how often you feel like you’re not going to make it. Probably a lot. Then ask yourself how many times you actually didn’t make it. If you’re reading this, the answer to that is zero.
Jesus tells us we will have problems. He doesn’t tell us everything will work out the way we’d prefer.
He tells us not to be afraid anyway.
It’s safe to believe Him.
P.S.
If you’d like to read through the Bible this year, you can join us at His Word Together.
No commentary. No telling you what to think. Nothing to buy. Nothing fancy.
Just steady time in the Word.
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