E-Letters

"Anything is possible if a person believes."

Jesus
(a little over 2000 years ago)

Belief

By Scott Duncan
Mar 05, 2010

I want to start with what I was thinking about when I first woke up this morning. Everything begins and ends with what I believe. Yes, it is true that I have not received much affirmation or validation in my life. When I was a child, I took my questions to my earthly father, like all boys do. Daddy, what do you think of me? Do I have what it takes? Most of the time, all I received was silence. When my father did speak, his words usually involved some form of judgment or condemnation. I did not like his answers. I preferred the silence.

When I became a young man, I sought out another source and hopefully different answers to my questions. I didn't know God. I didn't believe he was real. I couldn't see him or touch him. But there was someone that I could see, touch, and experience.

There was something mysterious and beautiful about her. There was something there that made me feel alive in a way I had never known. I took my questions to the "Golden Haired Woman". All the time, I was looking for God and didn't even know it. She was broken too, and gave me the same answers or silence that my father had. But by this time, I had made an agreement with my father's evaluation. This agreement drew me to people and experiences which reinforced all the lies. My brokenness became my identity.

Here is my dilemma and possibly yours too. Even though I now know where to take my questions and where to find the truth, I struggle to do so. I more often than not, do not recognize the power that I have in Christ to resist the enemy who scripture describes as a roaming lion seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. The Prince of Darkness uses my brokenness to perpetuate his lies. He always begins his most powerful lies with a truth. He uses what is true; to take us where we are not meant to go, where reality doesn't exist, but the initial truth deceives us into giving the lie life, to believe it. Everything that I have said about my earthly father and the women in my life is true, but what they have told me about myself is not.

God tells me that I am his beloved son. I am unique. I have what it takes. My life is meant to fill a void in eternity that only I can fill, something that he created me and me alone for. This is the truth! This is reality! Now, let's go back to the beginning of this day. It was not any different than any other day. The question hung in the air from the moment I first opened my eyes. Will I expand to become more of who God created me to be, or will I shrink and contract into the prison of self? Will I allow the truth to set me free today or allow the lies to keep me in bondage? The answer is not dependent on what I do, what I accomplish. God knows the truth and has written it on my heart.

In Romans (8:22), Paul tells us that all of creation groans in anticipation of the coming of God's kingdom. I think this happens continually and with each of us, especially as we start each new day. I believe that God and all the heavenly hosts along with Satan and all of his forces, wait and watch each morning to see what we choose to believe. Will there be light, will the kingdom advance or will darkness continue to cover the land? Bruce Springsteen has a song called "Empty Sky" which has been haunting me lately. It makes me think about this question, and how what I believe determines whether my sky will remain empty or be filled with his glory.

Jesus, Help me to see the truth today. Help me to believe who I am, and that your heart for me is good. Help me to live loved today!

Scott Duncan