Be It Unto You As You Believe

Christians have different levels of believing. Unfortunately, those who cannot find reasoning in their minds to rationalize your actions declare you naive.

It’s strange to hear their barrage of fears of possible sickness and evil that might befall you. Their focus is on the news. They heard this! They heard that! It’s a fact!

And you remind them; God is also real. Hope in salvation. Hope in His provision. Hope in His guidance and protection. Hope is having expectations of good to happen.

They say,

“Don’t tempt God by throwing yourself over a cliff.” “You have God’s protection, but don’t deliberately go where it is dangerous.” “Are you out of your mind?! There is so much real evil and sickness to avoid!”

What is the basis for these beliefs? This mentality? Did not God say we have not a spirit of fear but of love, power, and a sound mind?”

The first one is a voice of doubt. It twists your step of faith into an insinuation that you are about to act irrationally. Yet, you are the one who has been praying and talking to God about this decision. What does the third party mean by throwing out such a statement? It must be presumed they don’t like what you’re about to do, and they have their own ideas of consideration; but notice, though God is mentioned, they’re not counseling you to listen to God, they’re telling you that you’re doing something wrong towards God and displeasing Him. They’re condemning your intentions, projecting doubt on your relationship with God that has led you to this point in your life.

The second one is a voice of unbelief. It is a caution built on double-minded standards. They know God said he will protect you, but they don’t believe that He will protect you if your life path takes you somewhere out of their comfort zone. To step outside that comfort zone is to “tempt God.” Such a caution insinuates your desired action to be foolishness which then indicates that staying in the third party’s declared safe zone is wise and should be heeded, because God gives wisdom, and if you aren’t heeding this wisdom from the third party, you are not heeding God’s wisdom. This is believing that carnal efforts in making one’s vicinity “safe” is as far as God’s safety and provision for our victory in our lives over the world goes.

The third one is a voice of discouragement with two parts. The first half is an out-cry that declares what you’re thinking is wrong. Wrong according to who’s standards and beliefs? The third party’s. It is an attack on your confidence in your intelligence and relationship with God whether the third party intended it to be that way or not. That’s why we put a guard at the door of our lips.

Naturally, the third party denies and (we hope) wouldn’t dream of intentionally berating another believer’s relationship with God as they compare it to their own. Nonetheless, their out-cry of “concern” is exactly that. An attack on your mind. Their offense taken by this definition is of no consequence on the matter, because they, and their feelings which are fickle and rise and fall with their knowledge and circumstances, are not the topic at hand. Thus: they are subject to being set aside as we look at the second part of discouragement.

The second half is a distraction. It distracts you from the love of God and His promises to you. Already the third party shows their concern is toward what the world is, not who God is. Didn’t God say we would trample on adders and scorpions? Did He not say we are in this world but not of it? (Means the world’s rules don’t apply to us, for Christ is our supplier when there is an economic collapse, and He is our protector when crime runs wild, and He is our guide because man fails us.) Christ is your guide. The third party is not your guide.

They claim it is counseling to make you aware of all the evil things in the world and then stating it is safer to stay where you are and go nowhere. But that is not counsel, that is fear. What’s more, it is their fear. Did not God tell us to have no fear for He is with us? This “counsel” of the third party’s lacks sound mind, Christ’s love (which gives us confidence), and power.

Sound mind is lacking because the third party only sees the evil and reason to hide, as it were. The proof is their advocate for you to not go where you feel called or have liberty to travel. They have no peace about your plan of action. But it’s not a plan for them, it’s a plan for you, so their peace is not in the equation, only your peace, the peace Jesus bequeathed to you, matters.

Love is lacking because each of these statements was for their own comfort. The third party claims these are words that show they care for your well-being, but is that what their words say? Take a look. These concerns are all the third party’s worries. The third party only cares about how they feel in this decision of yours that doesn’t include them. Did they ask you what your concerns or prayers were for? Did they ask how your journey of faith brought you to this decision in your life? Are they acknowledging your walk with God? Evidently not.

It would seem the third party loves themselves more than you. The example, “Are you out of your mind?!” is the third party’s claim for attention with its loudness and with its implication that they are facing someone unreasonable.

Onlookers, with only this surface view, will tend to now see you as in the wrong and feel sorry for the third party for having to “deal with” such a person. Again, did the third party have intent? Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt that they are too busy in their self-observance, thinking of their own feelings and not others. All they know is that they want people on their side to back them up.

Power is lacking because nothing the third party said had any faith, glorified God, pointed to His promises, or came out of God’s mouth. Under the guise of humility, they are avoiding faith. They are limiting their belief in God’s Word and denying the power thereof with their evident stagnancy. Under the guise as a counselor of wisdom, they are promoting fear.

As the statements above show, they aren’t interested in how you rationalized your thoughts with God because it doesn’t flow with their idea of “common sense.”

What do you need the armor of God for if you don’t go anywhere where it will be needed?

Why did God promise to protect us and supply our needs and be our everything if He never intended for us to go anywhere where we would need to rely solely on Him? Are we not called to be lights in a world of darkness? Salt of the earth?

May the peace of Christ reign in your heart and His favor be all around you. Be it unto you as you believe.