Dear friends and family,
Many of you are walking through seasons right now where what you believe is being tested in very personal ways.
There are prayers that have not yet been answered, circumstances that do not make sense, relationships under pressure, financial concerns, health battles, and moments when what we have confessed with our mouths is being challenged by what we are facing in everyday life.
And I have been feeling that same tension in my own heart.
Many of you know that I wrote a book called Created to Believe. For years, I have preached about faith, taught about believing, and challenged people to trust God for the impossible.
But lately, I feel the Lord pushing me deeper.
I am discovering that there are moments when believing is no longer simply about what I know to be true. It becomes about whether I will trust the One I believe when I cannot yet see what He is doing.
There is a tremendous difference between believing something and believing in Someone.
Hebrews 11:1 says:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
That word substance keeps stirring me.
Faith is not empty. Biblical belief is not simply agreeing with a truth.
It is trusting God deeply enough to build your life upon Him when you cannot see the outcome.
Then I came again to Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 1:12:
“For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”
Paul did not say, “I know what I believe.”
He said, “I know WHOM I have believed.”
That challenges me.
Have I become more familiar with what I believe than with the One I believe?
It is possible to know doctrine, know Scripture, understand faith, and still hear Jesus calling us into a deeper relationship with Himself.
And I am discovering that deeper belief always leads to surrender.
Romans 10:9 speaks of confessing “the Lord Jesus” and believing in our hearts.
We gladly receive Jesus as Savior, but belief eventually asks another question:
Is He Lord over everything?
My dreams.
My decisions.
My relationships.
My finances.
My time.
My future.
True belief says:
Jesus, I trust You.
Jesus, I surrender to You.
Jesus, I belong to You.
Jesus, You are Lord.
Maybe this is part of the awakening God is stirring in my own heart:
Belief keeps becoming surrender.
After all these years, I am still discovering that being created to believe means being continually invited to know Him more deeply, trust Him more completely, and surrender to Him more fully.
So perhaps the question is not simply:
“Do I believe?”
But rather:
“Does the way I am living reveal how deeply I believe Him?”
From my heart to yours,
Mike