07 February 2008

Do you believe God?

You are about to read something that may come as a total shock to you. Brace yourself. Are ready? Here it comes: you are fallible! Think about it. You make mistakes every day. In fact, you are probably pretty good at it. Don't stop reading! I know it's hard to swallow. You don't like to think of yourself as a mistake maker, but it's true. The fact is, everyone makes mistakes. No one is perfect, not even close! We would all like to think that our own judgment can be trusted, or that every decision we make is the right one, but let's face it, if our mistakes were measured in gallons of gas, high gas prices would be a thing of the past! Gas stations all over the world would be paying us to fill up our cars! What if I told you I had created a cure for mistakes? What if I held a seminar in which I presented my ten foolproof steps that would help you to never make another mistake; never make another bad decision; never again have to fix a problem caused by bad judgment? Would you come? Maybe (if you were really desperate!), but you would be extremely skeptical. Why? Because there is no way that I, a champion mistake maker, could have come up with a cure to end all human mistakes! You would probably write me off as another nutcase trying to scam people out of their money, right? There is no magic formula that creates a perfect human being. No one can cure his own fallibility! You and I are fallible!

There was a time in my life when I trusted everybody. If a complete stranger told me that they were giving away free tickets to travel to a wonderful vacation spot on the face of the sun, I would have asked him where I could sign up! Unfortunately, at that time in my life I was still wearing diapers! Whether consciously or sub-consciously, all of us, at some point early in life, start to notice that everyone on earth is fallible, including ourselves. Everyone falls a little short of perfection. Your shortcoming as a human is expected. Now, this is really gonna floor you: there is nothing you can do about it! Hold that thought, we'll get back to it!

Now let's make a transition. One that goes beyond human comprehension. As fallible and imperfect as we are, God still loves us! Not only does He love us, He wants to have a personal relationship with us. This wonderful relationship could be compared to you giving a dirty, slimy snail your undivided attention, offering it everything you have, and loving it so much you would step out in front of a semi-truck to save it from getting smushed! Sounds crazy, right? But that is exactly what God has done for us. I know it sounds impossible, but like I said, it goes beyond our comprehension. The grace and mercy of God is unexplainable! Yet, it is there, waiting. Waiting for us to accept Christ as our Savior to begin this unbelievable relationship. So with all of that crammed into your head I want to tell you a story. (All of this has a point by the way!)

In the book of Acts you will find story after story of the early church scattering and growing under relentless persecution. This persecution caused a spreading of the church that sent the Gospel to the four corners of the earth. It was God's plan for the suffering to take place to cause the church to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature and fulfill Christ's commandment (Mark 16:15). One of the most recognized names in early church history is Paul. Paul went from persecuting Christians as a non-believer to being persecuted as a Christian. When Paul was brought before Festus, a Roman political leader, to be judged because of his preaching, he appealed to the highest human authority in that day, Caesar (Acts 25:11-12). It took some time for him to get there. In fact, he was brought before more leaders to be judged before being sent to Rome, but eventually he was sent to Rome. Long before any of this happened, Paul was given a promise directly from the Lord that he would have the opportunity to preach in Rome. It is found in Acts 23:11. It says, "....as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou also bear witness at Rome". Now God never promises anything He does not make happen. So, through all of the trials and persecution Paul endured, he had that promise. Yes, Paul endured persecution. Yes, he had struggles. Yes, he was fallible. But, he had a promise. He knew that God was allowing it all to happen for a specific reason. God was going to accomplish His will!

On the way to Rome to stand before Caesar, the ship Paul was in was caught in a relentless storm in the Mediterranean Sea. This storm lasted for fourteen days! Somewhere in the middle of the sea, the men on the ship lost all hope of living through the storm. Right in the middle of all the chaos and confusion, Paul stood before them and said something that proved his faith in the promise made to him by God. It's found in Acts 27:22-25. It says,

"And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told unto me." (emphasis added)

Paul was even bitten by a deadly, venomous snake after they made it to an island to safety and he shrugged it off. Paul knew God was going to keep His promise to him. Nothing was going to stop God! Not even the fallibility of Paul!

Remember earlier when I said there is nothing you can do about being fallible? Well, it is true. Since the fall of man in the garden of Eden, imperfection has been passed down to every generation. Until we arrive in Heaven, we will always be this way. Because we are fallible, because we all come from a long line of mistake makers, we have to rely on someone who is not fallible, someone who does not make mistakes in order to truly please God. So God, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, has provided for us a way to have a direct connection to Himself. Because of this, we have direct communication, through Jesus Christ, to God Almighty, the infallible One! If we follow His leading and direction for our lives, we can avert many of the mistakes caused by our humanity. He will guide us down a path that He has prepared for us, if we trust Him.

God has made humanity many promises. The Bible is full of them. The greatest promise made by God is that He will give us eternal life when we accept Christ as our Savior (John 3:16). One of my favorite promises from God is found in Romans 8:28. It says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose". Think about it! As children of God , when we strive to live for Him, He will direct every detail of our lives! We can put our full trust in God that He is in control. Yes, we go through trials, but they are given to perfect us. Yes there are temptations, but they are allowed by God to prove our love and loyalty to Him. Yes, we are fallible, but God loves us anyway! Do you see the awesomeness of God? There is none like Him. Everything that happens to us only happens after He gives His approval (Psalm 37:23-24). God can and will perfect your fallibility if you will let Him!

We have the promise of eternal life, if we accept it (John 3:16). We have the promise that God will provide, if we trust Him (Psalm 37:25). We have the promise that the good things God starts in us, He will finish (Philippians 1:6). We have the promise that in spite of the fact that we are fallible, we have the opportunity to one day become perfect (I John 3:2-3).

God has made you some wonderful promises. You can believe Him. His promises have been proved over and over again, since the beginning of time. If you will let Him, He will take your fallibility and make it into something wonderful! You can believe God!

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