Sometimes I don’t know what to believe. Have you ever had that feeling? On your left you have the word, in black and white, absolute. Then on your right it seems that you’re sitting with life, and it’s gray with edges blurred. And I must say, I love the Bible. Where it comes from, what it says, who it talks about, what it’s meant for. I even love the smell of the pages.
My relationship, or rather my experience of my relationship with Jesus and the Bible, comes and goes like the currents of the sea. Calm, then stormy, deep then shallow. Some days there are crashing waves spitting me out and then pulling me back in.
Honestly, I give the credit to double-mindedness. Some believers stand on the word and refuse to believe anything else, while others seem to believe that it can be used to manipulate God into doing things against His own will by waving out-of-context-promises under His nose. But when it comes to these things you have to be sure. I’m sure that God has a heart that is for me. I’m sure that I love the simplicity of His word. I love the power of it. And I believe it.
Some days I battle with double mindedness. Will God come through for me? If I pray, will I see changes or won’t I? We had a friend of ours come and share at our lifegroup a few weeks ago. I asked her to speak to the ladies about how to apply the words in the Bible in our lives, especially in our prayers and thoughts. It was awesome! She got us so excited about the Bible and prayer that we couldn't wait to go home and put everything we heard into practice.
She just kept talking and talking and talking and talking. She was filled with joy, and her heart was overflowing with the word. Everything she took a stand for, she backed up with the Word. She showed us how to pray the word into our situations. Weeks later, I was still inspired. The ladies in the lifegroup were sending me smses, rejoicing because they saw huge changes in their marriages and their husbands. And it was all by prayer; not a single discussion was had with their spouses, just prayer.
The same thing happened after that wonderful, clear word William Warren brought one Sunday night. He used the Bible to back up his single-mindedness. Again, I had ladies phoning me to say that they’d only applied and believed God’s word, and were already experiencing victory in certain areas.
It’s the word we must hold on to. We must know it by heart, feed ourselves with it daily. I want to be sure. And in order for me to be sure, I must know what the Bible says by heart.
My conclusion is this: I am double-minded when I don’t know what the word says. Or when I am too distracted to make a sober choice about what I choose to believe. I can respond to any situation in either fear or faith. The choice is mine.
If we don’t know the Bible, how can we expect to stay alive?