By Erin Elizabeth Austin
When I decided to write a series on believing God, I knew it was going to be a challenge. I’ve often been told I have a remarkable faith in God, but secretly, I knew my trust in God was greatly lacking. Don’t get me wrong. If there was a litmus test to measure a person’s faith, I probably would have done fairly well. But there were cracks in the foundation of my faith – areas where I struggled to fully trust God and take Him at His word. It’s why it took me so long to finally write this series, because I wasn’t looking forward to tearing down the walls around my heart and do an honest assessment of my trust in God. Yet I’m so glad I did! Not only have I learned why I struggled to believe God would fulfill His promises in certain areas of my life, but I’ve also learned so much about who God is.
There are many facets to our Creator, as evidenced by His variety of names. I know I don’t know everything about God there is to know, nor have I reached the pinnacle of my faith. However, one of the greatest things I’ve learned through this study and I pray you have as well is that God is trustworthy. He has made hundreds of promises to us, His children, throughout Scripture and He will fulfill those promises. He only calls us to believe.
When I decided to write a series on believing God, I knew it was going to be a challenge. I’ve often been told I have a remarkable faith in God, but secretly, I knew my trust in God was greatly lacking. Don’t get me wrong. If there was a litmus test to measure a person’s faith, I probably would have done fairly well. But there were cracks in the foundation of my faith – areas where I struggled to fully trust God and take Him at His word. It’s why it took me so long to finally write this series, because I wasn’t looking forward to tearing down the walls around my heart and do an honest assessment of my trust in God. Yet I’m so glad I did! Not only have I learned why I struggled to believe God would fulfill His promises in certain areas of my life, but I’ve also learned so much about who God is.
There are many facets to our Creator, as evidenced by His variety of names. I know I don’t know everything about God there is to know, nor have I reached the pinnacle of my faith. However, one of the greatest things I’ve learned through this study and I pray you have as well is that God is trustworthy. He has made hundreds of promises to us, His children, throughout Scripture and He will fulfill those promises. He only calls us to believe.
For such a small word, belief is a hard word to learn when it comes to believing God. Sure, we believe in God, but do we believe He will do what He says He will do? That’s why daily spending time with God and reading His Word is so vital. We can’t believe Someone we don’t know. I think that’s one of the reasons why God has so many different names throughout Scripture, because they describe the character of God. Not only is He a light in dark times, but He’s our strength, our defender, our refuge. He’s the God who is mighty in battle, the One who will provide, who gives us victory. He’s the One who will deliver us. He is mighty, the horn of our salvation, our great redeemer. He is God Most High.
"Knowing all of this, sometimes, we have to simply choose to believe. When our world is shaken and it seems like everything is falling apart, we have to choose to listen to what God says rather than what circumstances tell us. I learned this lesson the hard way this summer. After studying the awe-inspiring attributes of God and learning He is trustworthy, I found myself in one of the most challenging times of lupus treatments I’ve ever experienced. As those of you with a chronic illness know, most of the time we judge how bad we’re doing physically by comparing it to previous bouts of sickness. Although it’s not been my worst, this summer has ranked in the top five of all-time worst periods of sickness, which is saying something for me. Every day I have felt like I’ve been hit with a semi-truck. I’m not sure what’s been worse – the mind-numbing pain I feel down in the depths of my bones or the never-ending fatigue. What’s made this even harder is I felt great the first half of the year, but when June came, it was like I’d been sucker punched. The sickness came out of nowhere and, I admit, my first instinct was to cry out to God, “What are You doing?!” It was in that moment I was reminded that faith is a choice. It’s saying, “God, no matter what happens, I will my plant my feet and stand here choosing to believe You. I will keep my eyes on You rather than my circumstances. I don’t know how or when, but by Your grace, I will overcome this."
As I went through my list of the names of God, I kept coming back to one in particular that’s found in Jeremiah 16:19. It’s Jehovah Ma’ozi and it means “The Lord is my fortress.” For those of you who don’t know, fortress is an interesting word. It means “stronghold.” And here’s where it gets interesting. The word stronghold means “a place of safety or protection.”[i] Think about that for a moment. When it feels like our world is caving in, God is our place of safety. No matter what, we are secure and safe in Him, but we have to make Him our fortress.
As I spoke with my doctor about why I was suddenly so sick, she told me this battle I’m currently fighting is a good thing. In her words, “It’s your Mt. Everest. There will still be some mountains to climb once you get past this, but God is going to use this mountain to get you where you need to be.” Sometimes, we have to climb a mountain to step into the next phase of life. It’s treacherous and challenging, not to mention exhausting. The only way to survive is to choose to believe God is using this mountain to do something amazing. He hasn’t abandoned you while you climb. Let Him be your fortress. Choose to plant your feet, stand firm in your faith, and believe God no matter what.
“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.” ~ Psalm 121:1-3
[i] The Strongest Exhaustive Concordance; 2004
As I spoke with my doctor about why I was suddenly so sick, she told me this battle I’m currently fighting is a good thing. In her words, “It’s your Mt. Everest. There will still be some mountains to climb once you get past this, but God is going to use this mountain to get you where you need to be.” Sometimes, we have to climb a mountain to step into the next phase of life. It’s treacherous and challenging, not to mention exhausting. The only way to survive is to choose to believe God is using this mountain to do something amazing. He hasn’t abandoned you while you climb. Let Him be your fortress. Choose to plant your feet, stand firm in your faith, and believe God no matter what.
“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.” ~ Psalm 121:1-3
[i] The Strongest Exhaustive Concordance; 2004
RSS Feed