There are three essential questions in life that determine almost everything.
- Does God exist?
- Is God powerful?
- Does God deeply love me?
You may want to consider what you really believe regarding those questions. If God does not exist, all bets are off. You (and everyone else) are on your own in a dangerous world. If God is powerful but doesn’t care about you, then you are still on your own and must protect yourself at all costs….perhaps even from God. And if God deeply loves you but has no power, then you are gratified but must still protect and provide for yourself.
All of us as Christians would answer “Yes” to all three of those questions if they were asked in a group of fellow believers. But would we be expressing our aspirational beliefs or our actual beliefs? Aspirational beliefs are those we aspire to have because we know we should believe certain things. But actual beliefs can be different (and often are) and are revealed not by what we say but what we do.
To say that God exists, that he loves me deeply, and that He is unimaginably powerful implies that he is really there and because He loves me deeply, He consistently exercises his immeasurable power on my behalf for protection, provision, and direction.
Jesus believed that about the Father. I know he did because he slept through storms while others cried out. With small prayers he confidently took a few scraps of bread and fish and fed thousands. He walked on stormy seas and faced hostile leaders with the confidence that God would send a legion of angels to defend Him if needed.
But what about us? How often do we worry day after day about having enough? How many of us are “high on control” in our life and relationships so that we won’t be used or rejected? How many of us are plagued by anxiety and persistent fears of abandonment? How many of us believe in our heads that we are children of the King, but believe in our hearts that we are orphans living on our own, left to meet our own needs, and always on the brink of disaster – losing whatever is precious to us?
Knowing who we are in Christ and believing it in our hearts is critical in every circumstance. If we could answer “Yes” to each of those questions in our heart then peace would rule our emotions. Paul prayed that God would give the church at Ephesus the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that they might know Him better. Many of us have aspirational faith in the character and promises of God but our actual faith lags behind. How do you know? Just look at what you do and feel rather than what you say you would do and feel. We need these essential truths revealed to our hearts more than we need them deposited in our heads. That is the work of the Spirit.
Ask Him every day to write “yes” on your heart to each of those three questions so that you can live with the peace and confidence of Jesus. May the Lord give you His Spirit of wisdom and revelation today so that you may know Him better (Eph.1:17).
