Have you ever done a coin toss for something? I used to love to flip a coin when I was a kid. Heads or tails? There was a 50/50 chance I’d win (and I like to win), and the winner of the coin toss usually got to go first at something. Or did you ever fall for the “heads I win tails you lose” trick?
Every time you hear something, you have a choice. You either believe it or you doubt it.
Believe means to accept something as true. To have confidence in the truth of something. To have trust. Belief does not require proof, only acceptance.
Doubt, on the other hand, means to be uncertain of the truth of something. Consider it questionable or unlikely. Hesitate to believe. To distrust.
It’s like two sides of the same coin. Every time you hear something, you are flipping this coin. Do I believe or do I doubt what’s being said?
And we filter our coin toss through a myriad of things – past experience, emotions, hormones, what we’ve been taught, what does the Word say. The list could go on and on.
Without fail, every time you hear something, you are going to flip this coin and you are either going to believe it or doubt it.
This is HUGE! And the reason this is so important is because what we believe determines what we do. It determines how we talk. It determines how we act.
It’s so important that what we believe is truth.
We will act on what we believe to be true, and we will walk away from what we doubt.
The Word is true. Always. Every time you hear the Word, you can flip your coin and have it land on believe. Trust. Confidence.
But have you ever doubted the Word? Doubted God’s faithfulness? Doubted that He was going to answer your prayer?
Have you ever been holding on to a promise and at the same time had thoughts come to your head that were opposite of the Word? And the thoughts seem so logical….so real….that you start to believe those and doubt God? Thoughts like:
- God’s not going to answer your prayer. He would have done it by now if He was going to.
- You aren’t going to be healed. You’re going to die. Everyone else with this has, and so are you.
- He isn’t going to meet your need. You don’t have enough faith.
- I feel so dry. Where is God?
Sometimes I felt like I had a double-sided doubt coin and believe wasn’t even a choice.
Sometimes I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and had doubts pounding my head so hard they kept me up for hours so concerned and worried and doubtful, until……
Until I remembered the promise. Until I remembered my God. Until I remembered His faithfulness. Until I remembered the truth….
And I would turn to those thoughts that kept me awake and distressed for hours and just say,
“I doubt that. You want me to doubt something, but it’s not going to be my God! I doubt you, thoughts!”
“I doubt I won’t be healed. My God is healer! I am already healed!”
“I doubt my need won’t be met. My God’s name is The God Who Sees Beforehand AND Provides! He’s already provided it!”
“I don’t care if I feel dry, the truth is I have wells and rivers of living water flowing in me. How could I possibly be dry when the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in me?”
Faith doesn’t deny the situation. It doesn’t deny the sickness is present. It just chooses to believe the GREATER reality that God is healer.
Faith doesn’t deny lack. It chooses to doubt the thought that God won’t provide.
We hold that coin every time a thought comes. Every time we hear a bad report. Every time we look at our situation.
We determine whether or not it lands on believe or doubt. Choose to believe Him today. He is faithful!
God cannot tell lies! And so his promises and vows are two things that can never be changed. We have run to God for safety. Now his promises should greatly encourage us to take hold of the hope that is right in front of us. This hope is like a firm and steady anchor for our souls. (Hebrews 6:18-19)