Many people, even some Christians, have a hard time believing that God really means what He says when He speaks in His word, the Bible. I don’t think they do this on purpose, or are being rebellious. There are two main reasons, I believe: (1) is this really God speaking, or only some men? And (2) why should I believe it, because it really is a pretty nasty world, and if He’s in charge of it, it looks like He’s doing a bad job of it, and why should I put myself in His hands?
These are both fair questions, and I will try to answer them, but I have to say that the answers will require you to exercise some faith in receiving them: God does not dump Himself into your lap like a homerun baseball hit into the stands; you have to stand up and try to catch it. If you will agree to do that, I’ll do my best to hit it in your direction.
First: yes, men wrote God’s word down, about 40 of them over 1500 years and in different original languages. They used ordinary words, words you yourself would have used if you lived back then. Over the centuries these words have been translated into other languages, for the Bible is the most-translated book of all time. In each language God is able to make His meaning clear to the reader so that he can understand what God has done and will do, and how He asks us to respond. It really is His word, and if you will read it honestly and openly, He will use it to demonstrate the truth of it to you, and you will learn to “hear” His voice in it as you read.
cry out to Him…..”I believe; help my unbelief!
Secondly: have you ever whipped by a parked police car at well above the speed limit, and kept your eyes on the mirror to see if its lights came on, and when they didn’t, breathed a sigh of relief? The policeman was giving you grace, knowing that you would probably slow down just because he was there. God is like that, only more so. Not just speeding, but all sorts of bad behavior goes on in the world, and perhaps you have been the victim of some of it (perhaps, on the other hand, you have been the “speeder”!) It does not mean that God doesn’t care, or has no power, or is not good; God is so good that we have no real concept of His goodness; He cares so much, He sent His only Son to die in our place so that we would not have to die eternally; and He has all power. Then why doesn’t He act? He does, sometimes. Other times we can’t see any action, even when He is active secretly. And other times, like the policeman, He continues to sit still.
Can we accuse Him for this? What if He flipped the lights every time you messed up? How many times a day? You would be like the proverbial cat in a room full of rocking chairs. God waits, leaning on you internally, calling you to Himself, ready to act in a way you can’t imagine. And for those who have responded to Him, yet can’t quite believe their good fortune, He suggests that you cry out to Him with the father of the epileptic boy, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Reader, believe Him, even when it looks like He is just parked by the roadside, not doing anything.