Belief
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:15-16
I heard an excellent speaker at bible study this morning. I really left convicted, yet overjoyed. One thing she said really hit home with me. It went something like this, “How you respond to the struggles and sufferings in life is often determined by your theology.” And I just couldn’t stop thinking about that. What do I believe? What do YOU believe? How do you respond when life hurls its share of disappointments and uncertainties your way? Are you fearful? Are you worried? Do you feel abandoned? When we begin to embrace such emotions, we believe Satan’s lies. If we truly believe that Christ is the Son of the living God-that He died for our sins and is able to make us holy and blameless before Him-words like fear, worry, abandonment, and shame should not be in our vocabulary. When we react in these ways, what are we saying about what we truly believe?
As it is stated in 1 Peter 4:12-13, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” Dear friends, do not be surprised when life gets hard. It will! It is! But those in Christ have a renewed strength… those is Christ will run and not grow weary. Will we suffer? Yes! Will things be hard? Yes! What makes the believer of Jesus different from the unbeliever is NOT his circumstances, but his response to his circumstances. Jesus truly is our peace and comfort and LONGS to be the Lord of our lives. We must allow Him to be that. We must believe that He is true to His word. Before you begin to respond to difficult circumstances through resources of your own..…grasp for Christ! He IS who he says he is. Believe in Him. Trust Him. Place your faith in Him. He is love and His love for you runs deeper than the oceans and higher than the heavens. You can trust Him with your life. He is the answer that Simon Peter gave-He IS the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now I must ask, ”what about you?” Jesus longs to know, “Who do you say I am?” Live out what you believe.
