What Believing Is

11/28/1998

Just so that doesn't just sit in your minds as a good song with a pleasant melody, take the words and apply them for just a minute, because I think that phrase “to believe,” the expression “to believe,” has been so misunderstood over the years. It's either been, “I believe the right things, the doctrine of... I do believe. Jesus is the Son of God. I believe. Jesus is raised from the dead. I believe that. Yep, I got it. I believe.” Others have said that the nature of having faith or believing is, “I really, really want something, and I refuse to doubt in my mind. I'm going to believe. I'm going to believe that. I'm going to believe God for ______. I'm going to believe God for ______.” It's some attempt to push negative thoughts out of your mind and to hold on to the thing that you want. I would just like to submit to you that this is not what this song is about, and it's not what Jesus or any of those inspired by His Spirit meant when they called us to faith, when they called us to believe. The essence of belief, the essence of faith, to believe…and I wouldn’t mind singing it again if we’re not going to wear out the guitar fingers here.

But the essence of belief is to really understand and trust that – number one, God is absolutely, totally aware of every single thing in your hearts, your minds, your lives. Every hair on your head is numbered. The scriptures are very clear – a sparrow can't fall to the ground apart from His notice anywhere on the planet. And so the essence of belief is, number one, to believe that He really knows every last thing about you, everything you are feeling, every hurt that you have, every aspiration that you have. He understands every issue. He knows all your needs, even before you ask Him.

The second thing is that God is sovereign. He is able to do something about anything that comes up. He is aware of every circumstance. He has ordered the universe. Every time your car turns over or doesn't turn over, every bump on the road that you hit, every flat tire that you would ever have in your entire lifetime…every issue in your house with the doorknob falling off, or the children crying in the middle of the night, every degree of temperature that you would ever have or your children would have, every last issue regarding finances or jobs or someone gossiping about you at work or how your ego gets fanned a little bit at work when you think you did a really good job and you did better than so and so and you are trying to show somebody up or pump up your ego. Every last minute detail in your life – God is keenly aware of. He understands and orchestrates the issues. He allows the circumstances of life to come our way – every little hurt, every little misunderstanding. He permits it, allows it, is aware of it, and is sovereignly able to change any circumstance whatsoever in our lives.

And the third aspect of “If you believe,” then all these good things come “to those who believe”…the third aspect is that He loves you. So not only is He totally aware of every single issue, without any crevice that any detail has fallen through. You are not an island. You are not by yourself out there someplace and “nobody understands” and so on and so forth. You’re not the product of circumstance and of what other people are doing to you and all of that. God is aware and in control of all of those things. Heaven reigns, as was said in Daniel 10 or the angel did, I suppose, in Daniel 10. But God is totally aware of every detail. He is totally powerful and sovereign to change every detail and to control every issue of life. And thirdly, He loves you desperately. So, He means nothing for your harm. He has plans to prosper you and not to harm you.

So to believe then, is to be at peace that God desperately loves you. He understands your circumstance, and He can and will change it. If something isn't changing, you can still trust Him, because He desperately loves you. He is totally aware and He is sovereignly able. You can still trust Him! You can still have faith! You can have peace! It's not that you've mustered up this great attitude because “I believe, I believe.” It's not because you know the right things because “I believe in that, I believe in that, I believe in that” – so everything is fine. But it is knowing that He is a person and that He desperately loves you, He is totally aware, and He is able to change anything any time. That allows us to relax and be at peace in our circumstances.

If you believe, all these things come to you. If you’ll trust Him, if you’ll step into the unseen realm and live with Him in that unseen realm where the details and the circumstances are not sovereign. Your personality and your failures and your weaknesses and your history are not sovereign. Other peoples' thoughts and feelings and impressions are not sovereign. Your financial issue is not sovereign and unchangeable. Absolutely nothing exists in the seen realm that is not a shadow of the heavenly realms, according to the scriptures. Meaning, that all these circumstances are just props in order to see what’s in our hearts. He led them into the wilderness “to find out what was in their hearts.”

This whole issue is: Can we relax before God, trust Him, “forget what is behind, press on towards the mark?” Can we not worry about all the details and let tomorrow take care of itself, as Jesus said? Can we be at peace with God knowing that He loves us, He is totally aware and He is sovereignly able... so everything is okay. I can be happy. I can be at peace. I can be relaxed in spite of the bombs bursting in air. I can be relaxed and I can love Him. I can be a worshipper. I can love other people. I don't have to be pent up and frustrated, I don't have to be nervous, I don't have to be angry. I don't have to doubt or fear or be skeptical or cynical. I don't have to do any of that, because He desperately loves me, He is totally aware and He is sovereignly able. So it’s really okay.

My circumstances are absolutely in His total awareness, under His total control and He loves me, so He is trustworthy. So, what else is there? There’s nothing else left. If I understand He knows every circumstance in my life, everything I need, everything I want, all this stuff, how I feel. He knows everything. He’s totally able to control the circumstances, change them with the blink of an eye and a snap of a finger. And He desperately loves us and He knows so much better than we do what is best for us. If we know all that stuff, we can be worshippers and be relaxed, enjoy life, love other people without getting all caught up in all this stuff, this cynicism, and the fear, and the depression. All that stuff is just gone, because we believe. If you believe these things are true for us.

So, if we can appeal to the musicians to do this again for us, I’d appreciate it because I want everyone to look through those eyes as you sing this. What is “to believe”?

If you believe There's nothing I can't do in you If you believe Your heart can be brand new I will open up your eyes To things that angels see If you believe You will overcome the world if you believe

If you believe You'll change the lives of those you love If you believe Your joy will be renewed I will take what's weak in you And make you strong in Me If you believe I will go with you if you believe

If you believe You'll see I want the best for you If you believe You'll know My words are true The thing that I require of you Isn't hard or “deep” or mean Just to believe Won't you believe? I'm changing those with courage to believe You will be my child if you believe!

•  To Believe