Seeing is Believing

 Wednesday, I posted two videos onto my Facebook page.  The first one was the YouTube video that the girls and I spent hours and hours on, between script, retakes, and editing.  The second video was a 27 second clip of my tremors, with a title of Neurological Lyme.  The youtube video that explained some very useful facts about Lyme and had a list of symptoms at the end, received 163 views so far.  The 27 second clip of my tremors, with only a title of neurological lyme has received 2,386 views!!   This made me think about the statement, "seeing is believing."  This certainly rings true for my case of Lyme Disease. However, the majority of the symptoms are actually unseen.  

As I have been going through this difficult time with the Lyme in my heart, Amber's mom Sue has been encouraging me in the Word.  She brought to my attention doubting Thomas, who had a hard time believing Christ had returned until he could see Him with his own eyes.  When Thomas saw, then he believed but Jesus said blessed are those who believe even though they can not see.   You see, there was only a small group of people that would actually see Christ walk the earth after He rose from the grave, especially in comparison to how many have lived since then.  This is the core foundation of being a Christian, to believe that Christ died on the cross for our sins, and then raised to life.  And if you believe, then you will raise to heaven with Christ when you die.   No wonder Matthew says that few find the way to life in Christ, as the hinge of being a Christian relies fully on believing without seeing (faith).

I'm certainly not faulting anyone for watching one video over the other, as that's not the point of the post.  However, it's interesting that we naturally need to see it to believe it.  Relying on faith, especially when times are tough and everything is pointing into a different direction, can be challenging.  I have to defer to mama Sue here; her words have been life changing for me (clearly coming from the Holy Spirit).  Taken from the book: Lord, Change my Attitude by James MacDonald & Barb Piel

• James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
• Christians don't generally set out to doubt God. they don't bring their faith into question without reason. For most of us, life's pain simply catches us off guard. The reality of hardship trips us up.
• Doubt, taken directly to the Lord, leads to faith because God's word and God's character can stand under the most microscopic scrutiny. But left on your own in your grief or difficult circumstances, left to entertain your own questions, alone to stir your circular reasoning, or even worse, left alone in the company of other doubters or bitter people, doubt can grow rapidly.
• First, define doubt: Doubt is an unsettled opinion about the certainty of something. Doubt is not unbelief. Unbelief is different and more dangerous. Unbelief is refusal to believe something regardless of any evidence. Doubt is just unsettledness. Unbelief is a refusal to believe. However, doubt, if left alone too long, can lead to unbelief. Doubt is a lack of confidence or assurance that God will keep His promises.
• What you believe about God is the most important thing about you. It shapes your life and determines how you deal with good and hard things that come your way. It has everything to do with how your life will be lived and how much victory or defeat you will know. If that is true, then how God feels about your doubt is extremely significant.
• Doubt can be like cancer of the soul. Doubt is like a machete to your garden. Doubt is like a match to your house. Doubt is the moth that eats away at the fabric of your relationship with God.
• Doubt comes in many forms and ways. Doubt may be triggered by hardship and suffering or by the effort to make faith fit with a painful reality of life: someone you love dies, innocent people suffer. You lose a marriage, a job, or your health. Faith is put to the test, and you question your faith. You scramble to hold back your doubts. Doubt can come from pain.
• Doubt can come from spending more time looking at the newspaper then looking to God. Doubters might say, "the world is so messed up. I can't reconcile a God of love with a world so filled with suffering! If God is real, how do you explain natural disasters, wars, and poverty?" A lot of people feel this way because they cannot put God and what they see together.
• When the author of Hebrews in the New Testament was urging his audience to keep going alone in their faith in spite of the hardships faced, he cautioned them not to "fall by following (Israel's) example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:11-12
• Doubt erupts from pain, our pain. The choice that determines whether you will live in the wilderness or be on your way to the land God promises is this:

                 Will you bring your question to God who hurts along with you,
                               even if you must wait for the satisfying answer?
                                                                         **** Sue Howell Luttrell **** 

So where do you stand?  Do you believe that Christ died for you?  Do you believe that He loves you?  All of the words are there; the truth is in His Word. The Bible consists of 66 books of truth filled with history, poetry, and most importantly God's love for humanity.  

                                    Take your doubt to God and stand with us by choosing FAITH today!

Sue continues...

I ask you a question????

Hear me!

Is God still using you?

Is God finished with you?

Do you still need to fight?

Absolutely!
I think he is showing you.... He's got this! Col. 2:6. Every step forward with God is a step of faith. If you can't look back and see the faithfulness of God in your life in the past and trust God with those things in your future, you're going to have a hard time living for Him. When times are hard and you're not sure what's ahead, you can look back and say, God is good, God is faithful. We can wait on Him, we can trust Him! Life always has seasons and valleys. Those who walk by faith have confidence that God will bring them out of the wilderness.

Sometimes when we feel overwhelmed with the events and circumstances we are facing we just have to STOP! Say, "I am facing more than I can handle right now. Lord, increase my faith!"

Simple prayer but full of power:
Lord, thank you for being a good God and faithful God. You see me here with my heart wide-open. Oh God, increase my faith! Please give me a greater capacity to trust you – to rest in your promises, to sense the reality of who you are. Give me a greater capacity to trust you. Help me to see you related to the circumstances I'm facing – not earthly but eternal things, each one related to my willingness to rest in your promises and walk closely with you. Grant me that kind of victory. May I be different because of what I've acknowledged here before you. I promise to give you thanks, praise, and glory.
In Jesus name, Amen
--quoted from my devotional "Lord change my attitude"--

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6