Do You Believe?

This makes me think of one of my favorite lines from A Miracle on 34th Street.

"I believe. I believe. It's silly, but I believe." --Natalie Wood.

Sometimes that is the way we approach faith. Last night we were looking at the faith of Abraham from Romans 4 and verse 21 resonated with me...

21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

This passage is specifically about the promise of a son to Abraham when he was "as good as dead" in regards to reproducing. But Abraham believed. He believed God would do what he promised he would do. This is the essence of faith. Do you believe like this?

In my reading for today I noticed the same idea in 3 different passages. Isn't the unity of the word of God amazing?

First Moses' lack of belief...

Numbers 20:7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 9 And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him. 10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

Then Zechariah's unbelief...

Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John... 18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

And finally the Psalmist writes of his faith...

Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.

4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?

Lord, help me to be fully persuaded that you will do what you have promised in my life and the lives of those around me.