On the World Race, coffee shops are one of the first locations Racers search for when arriving in a new city. Why? Is it because we’re longing for a glimpse of the modern world and we know coffee shops have a good chance of wifi and hip art all over the walls? Or is it that coffee shops remind us of home when we could drive down the street to the nearest Starbucks? Or possibly that we like to compare iced mochas here in south-east Asia to those at home? I won’t argue that these reasons aren’t all true, but what I appreciate most about coffee shops on the World Race is that I often get to have some really great quiet time with Jesus in them. They’re one of the few places we can sit by ourselves and not look like an outcast, plug in our headphones and not look like we’re anti-social, and dive into our bibles and prayer journals without much interruption.
There is not much in this world that tops chatting with Jesus over coffee and a chocolate brownie or cinnamon roll. Our conversations look different every time. Today, in fact, it looks like me writing a blog and stopping to ask Him to guide my writing. I’ve asked Him a few questions today that I hope He’ll answer as I look into His word and share my thoughts with you:
- 1. Why do so many people say they believe in You but don’t live like it’s true?
- 2. Am I guilty of this lie sometimes?
- 3. How can I, and other people, change that?
There is an example in Mark 9 of a father who asks Jesus to drive out an evil spirit from his son. The disciples are not successful in casting out the spirit, and it seems as if the father is quickly losing hope that his son will be healed. Jesus recognizes the lack of faith in the crowd, calling them an “unbelieving generation”, and reminds the father that “Everything is possible for him who believes.” The man replies, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” The father is desperate; there is a part of him that wants to believe for the sake of his son’s healing; but there is also a part in him that doubts that this miracle could actually happen, that Jesus could really do it.
I am not so different from this father at times. I say I believe, and I know in my head that the bible says “With God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), and “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). But in spite of this knowledge, my faith wavers at times and I entertain doubts about whether God would really use me or one of my teammates to bring healing to the sick, or whether even He could manage to turn all the evil and darkness of this world into something good and valuable. In those moments I find myself praying like the father of the demon-possessed boy: “Help me overcome my unbelief!”
I suppose it is that prayer, along with a sincere heart, that ushers in a sort of peace that comes from reaching out to our Savior for help and relying on Him even when I don’t understand how He’s working. And it is that reaching out to Him that displays faith in Him, and since faith without action to support it is dead (James 2:17), my actions should align with what’s happening in my head and my heart. That’s something to wrap your head around: your actions should reflect your faith, and your faith comes from your belief in Jesus. So if all you believe about Jesus is that he was a good man in history who did some good things a long time ago, your faith in Him is going to be superficial and distant, and your actions will not demonstrate any real commitment to giving Him control of your life because you don’t think Jesus really has anything to do with your life today. If however, you believe that Jesus is who he said he was, that is, God’s Son, and that he really died on the cross for the specific purpose of saving you AND bringing you into relationship with Himself (John 3:16), then “to believe” takes on a whole new level of significance. If you believe like that, then your faith will lead you to rely on the rest of the promises Jesus and God the Father spoke. Here are a few examples:
- · His grace is sufficient for us. That means no matter what evil we have done, he can forgive us and give us value again. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
- · He works all things out for the good of those who love and serve Him. (Romans 8:28)
- · He has given us His words for teaching and growing closer to Him through the bible. (2 Timothy 3:16)
- · He sends us the Holy Spirit to guide us when we accept Him. (John 14:26)
- · “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching” (John 14:23). This doesn’t mean God’s love is conditional of whether we are obedient or not. He loves us all in spite of our obedience or disobedience-that’s why He already died for us. What it means is that if we truly love Him and believe in Him, we won’t be able to help ourselves but try to obey Him. We will want to obey Him so badly that it will radically change how we do life (even leading us to the other ends of the earth in pursuit of Him).
There is no doubt in my mind that many people are walking this earth thinking that they believe in Jesus and that’s all they have to do. But Jesus says that “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). If you research more verses with the word “believe” or “belief” in them, you’ll find that proper responses to believing include these actions, among others: praise (psalm 106:12); unity (Acts 2:44); baptism (Mark 16:16); and worship (John 9:38). Belief in Jesus is poured out in the form of faith which is reflected by your actions. That means that if you are not working to rid the sin from your life, and if you are not seeking to know Jesus more every day and grow closer to Him as your top priority in life, then you do not truly believe in Him.
That might be really hard for some of you to swallow. It sure is for me when I recognize it creeping into parts of my own life. Like when our seong-tao (aka taxi) didn’t show up at our hostel to take us with all our bags to the bus station and we didn’t have our tickets and it was 5 minutes till 8:00, the time our bus was supposed to leave. My mind filled with worries about missing the bus, not being refunded all the money we had spent on tickets, not having a place to stay the night, and worst of all: getting blamed for all of the financial loss these circumstances might cause because I am the team treasurer who takes care of the expenses. My anxiety made me bitter and spiteful that night, and I quickly got angry at anyone who dared make a joke about the situation or seemed not to sense the impending doom we were all facing.
It’s normal to worry, right? So surely it must be okay. Surely in a situation as stressful as that it was understandable for me to worry, so I didn’t do anything wrong, right? WRONG! In Matthew 6, God’s word tells us not to worry about what we’ll eat or drink or wear (or where we’ll sleep or how we’ll pay for a bus ticket). By getting angry at my teammates, I was reflecting a lack of faith in God’s provision for us, which stemmed from not truly believing He’d do what He said He’d do. It’s hard to admit when you have a lack of belief, especially if you’re a professing Christian. But recognizing that in yourself is exactly what you may need to begin reaching out your hand to Him and asking Him, “Lord, help me overcome my unbelief!” At that moment, you can rest assured in one of my favorite promises from our Father, that comes from Jeremiah 29: 11-14,
“’For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.”
