The Crisis of Belief - I
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2013 · 1 September 2013
We have been studying “Experiencing God” for a while and we have learned the importance of obedience. We know that we should be obedient because God knows the future and He is shaping our character through trials and tough times and unless we are obedient we will not grow the way God wants us to.
And often times the assignments that God has for us are only possible if He is working through us, when we try to do things on our own we will surely fail. So you must decide whether to believe God or whether you ignore God and just muddle through by yourself. And then you wonder why you do not feel close to God and do not experience Him. This whole process is called the crisis of belief.
The word ‘crisis’ means decision or judgment, so this is not a calamity in your life, but a turning point where you make a decision. You must decide what you truly believe about God. The way you respond at this turning point will determine whether you become involved with God in something God-sized that only He can do or whether you will continue your own way and miss what He has purposed for your life.
Now remember, this is not a one time deal, this is a continuing process throughout the rest of your life that you have to make decisions every day whether you are willing to grow and serve God or not. This is a living testimony of what you believe about God. Your actions day in and day out are the clearest testimony of your relationship with God.
Would you tell a group of people that if you walk around that city for a number of days and then blow some trumpets that the walls of that city would fall down? Imagine how big Joshua’s crisis of belief was that week and how big it was for all Israel. Even though David was close to God, when he was at war with the Philistines did he experience a crisis of belief? Of Course! David still had to decide what he believed about God, he still had to walk out in faith trusting that God would do what He promised.
An encounter with God requires faith!
When God speaks, our response requires faith. That is the way it was in the Bible and that is the way it is right now here in Colorado. Hebrew 11:1 says, “Faith is being sure what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We live by faith , not by sight.”
If we can clearly see how something can be accomplished, we do not need faith. Faith is the confidence that whatever God has promised will happen and is true. Faith is believing that the God who gives us these assignments is the same God who will make sure that we will be provided with the strength and the wisdom and whatever else to accomplish them.
Faith is not based on an idea or concept, our faith is based on a Person, who is God Himself. It is based on us being obedient to what He is asking us to do in our lives; our faith must be based on God’s power and not on human wisdom. When God lets us know what He wants to do through us, it will be something that only He can do.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us why faith is so important, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Obedience indicates faith in God. The problem we often have is that we are self centered and self reliant. We think that we can do things by ourselves with our own wisdom and power. The fact is that we are weak and powerless.
God always reveals what He is going to do and when we join Him, He will work through us and with faith we can confidently obey Him because we know that He is going to bring to pass whatever He purposes. Jesus says that what is impossible for man is possible for God (Mark 10:27) and the Bible continually proves that this is true.
Just imagine that you have to sell your house, your whole future depends on that. And the house is a mess, a lot of deferred maintenance, and it is falling apart both inside and out, and nobody wants to even go in and see it. They drive up and take one look and drive off again. And people say that your house is practically worthless. And you know deep down in your heart that things are falling apart and you know it.
You are desperate, absolutely desperate for the sale of your house, your future depends on it, and all you material goods that you have accumulated all your life are in that house. And things are getting worse economically every day. Murphy’s Law which says that “anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” just happened to you. Your survival depends on the sale of this house and nobody thinks it is worth anything and nobody is even looking.
By now it has become a matter of life and death. And when you almost have given up hope, when your thoughts have become morbid and you are desperately seeking a way out, and suddenly a potential buyer shows up. And as you try to recover from the shock of seeing even one buyer, the buyer takes only a cursory look around as if he already knows the condition of the house, and then says, “I’ll buy it, full price!” And not only that, the buyer says again, “And I’ll give you a deposit up front that you can take to the bank.”
Now you are thinking, “No way, this is a cruel joke, somebody must put him up to that, like some people who are “pranked” on TV. This must be a hoax, this just does not happen. I have been waiting so desperately and so long and now this sale so quick? But this buyer must be real wealthy, because he says that not only wants to give me the usual 10% deposit, but he wants to pay it in full right now.
You say, would you repeat that again? You heard it the first time but you cannot believe your own ears. But here is the buyer taking out a check and writing out the full amount of the asking price of the house. And then he says, “I’ll be back later to close on the house.” Do you realize that what the buyer did with that house is in fact what Jesus has done with you; He has bought you with all your faults and paid the price in full on the cross. And He will come back someday to live with you in a mansion that He has provided for you. This is not some stranger; this is the Creator of heaven and earth who will always do what He promised.
God is not someone who writes your name in the Book of Life in pencil and then erases your name when you are bad and then writes it again when you are good. No, God has written your name in the Book of Life the moment your trusted the Lord Jesus and your name is written in His blood that cannot be erased forever. And that is why God can be trusted.
Let us spend some time reflecting:
The times we refused to do things for God because we were more interested in doing things for ourselves in this world. The times we refused to do things that require faith, because we lacked faith. The times we hesitated so long that the opportunity passed and we regretted not taking that opportunity to tell someone about Jesus. Are you willing to pray to God right now to ask Him to change you, to give you greater faith?
Encounters with God are God-sized!
The only way we will understand what God is like is to see Him at work in our world. We will learn more about His nature when we realize His activity. Whenever God is involved His assignment will also have a God-like dimension. So the world will begin to know Him.
Some people think that God will never ask them to do something that seems impossible. But if that assignment that God is giving me is something that I can handle on my own, it is probably not from God. The assignments God gave in the Bible were always God-sized. They were always beyond what people could do in their own strength because God wanted to show them His nature, His strength and His love for the people and for the world that was watching.
God told Abraham to become the father of a large nation while Abraham and Sarah were real old and had no son. God told Moses to deliver the children of Israel, to cross the Red Sea and to provide water from a rock. Jesus told His disciples to feed 25,000 people and to make disciples of all nations. None of these things are humanly possible. Only God can do that and when they are willing to get involved they will learn who God is.
Let us read Daniel 3:8-30: “Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews. 9 They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image; 11 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.”
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. 27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! 29 Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver. 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.”
So here is an example of God’s work. Who received the credit? Even a pagan King gives God all the credit and blessed Him. God has not changed, He is still at work in sustaining us, but do we see Him working? What our world sees are devoted Christian people or a church serving God, but they are not seeing God. Why? Because we are not willing to attempt anything that only God can do.
Let Christ be lifted up, not in words but in real life. Let people see the difference the living Christ makes in a life, a family or a church. When the world sees things happen through God’s people that cannot be explained except that God Himself has done them, the people will be drawn to a God like that.
God is more concerned about your walking with Him than what you accomplish for Him. You can complete an assignment for Him, be a leader for Him without ever experiencing Him. God can accomplish what ever He wills with or without us. What God wants is that we really experience Him. Then you and the people around you will know more of Him then you have ever before.