How to Know God's Will - Part 7

Remembering God's Faithfulness
How to know God's will - Part 7
by Rhonda Jackson

If you’re lucky enough to have traveled on the clean and efficient train or subway system in Europe, you may have heard the warning to “mind the gap” as you exit the car. Apparently, someone decided that we needed a reminder not to step in the space between the train and the platform, lest we twist an ankle or worse. And if you’ve ever read the Bible, you may have noticed a recurring theme, highlighting the gap between what we profess to believe and how we act and react in real life.  

Perhaps we point and chuckle at the Israelites in the book of Exodus.  They witnessed God’s wrath in the form of plagues in Egypt; they saw water turn to blood, frogs littering the landscape, and three days of total darkness - yet when they were pinned against the Red Sea, they despaired. They were given manna in the desert - a literal gift from heaven to keep them from starving - yet lost hope when Moses disappeared for forty days.

We might roll our eyes at the apostles in the New Testament, who witnessed Jesus lay hands on lepers and cure them, touch the eyes of the blind and restore their sight, and speak to the Centurion and heal his son…without even being there!...but who were pretty sure they were seeing a ghost as Christ walked towards them on water. Who cowered, terrified, in a boat on a stormy sea, even when Jesus was in that same boat. Their teacher told them He would suffer and die yet they despaired at His death and mourned the end of His mission and ministry.  

Of course, we modern-day Christians read Scripture with the gift of foresight - we know that God led the Israelites out of slavery and that Christ’s story was far from over when he was crucified and died! It’s easy to poke fun at the disciples’ lack of faith in spite of all they had seen with their own eyes - but don’t we still do the same? We cower in our own boats of fear and forget the times we survived whatever “plague” caused our terror. We see a situation as hopeless and a world that seems to fall further every day, while worshiping a God who reminded us - promised us -  that we would have problems, but that He would overcome and prevail. We grieve and mourn those we loved and lost, sometimes even railing at God - how could you? - because we’re just as human and dimwitted as His disciples and we let our emotions overrun our conviction, forgetting that, as we leave this life, God has a place prepared for us with Him! (John 14:3)

The gap between life and belief is most obvious when we’re struggling.    Rather than beating ourselves up, we read the Bible to remember - that even those who saw Jesus in the flesh struggled with their faith. We read their testimonies and feel encouraged. And we write our own stories of frailty versus faith, so that those who come after us might see our flawed humanity - and God’s mighty power.  

You gain confidence to walk in God’s will when you remember God’s faithfulness in the past.  

This post was inspired by the following message.