Podcast Introduction

Our reading today is 2 Corinthians 4-5, and I’m calling the episode “Make A Decision.”

Comments on  2 Corinthians 5

Today I’m going to focus on the seventh verse of chapter 5, which just happens to consist of only seven words: We live by believing, not by seeing.

You know, there comes a time in each person’s life where they just have to make a decision. Given the facts that can be known, and accepting that there are some things that cannot be known, we just have to decide and move forward.

I have someone in my life who has a tremendous amount of knowledge about the Word of God, he’s well read, he’s listened to some of the world’s best teachers, he says he believes, and yet he cannot rest in his faith. He continues to have doubts, because there are things of God that he cannot understand. 

My first response is, “Of course you can’t understand it all. God is infinite. We are finite. It would be a small god indeed if we could have perfect understanding of him.” 

Thankfully, God has loving patience. He allows circumstances in our lives that cause us to have to trust Him, and when we see how He was present in those circumstances, our faith grows. 

About nine years ago, when my middle son, Steven, nearly died, God showed the Lovely Lady LeeAnn and I once more that He is trustworthy. Today, Steven is physically healthy, he just celebrated his seventh wedding anniversary with his beautiful wife, and he’s doing well in his career. 

My wife and I felt God’s presence during Steven’s crisis, and we knew that whatever happened, He would not desert us. It would have been easy to look at circumstances and fall apart. Steven came within a hair’s breadth of dying. During those hours that he was in the operating room, my wife and I certainly were afraid for Steven, and we shed many tears as we cried out to God to spare him, but we didn’t doubt that God had Steven in His hands. And we knew that his being in God’s hands was the very best place that he could be. LeeAnn and I were willing to accept God’s will for Steven and for us, because we were living by believing, not by seeing.

Beloved, there are countless times in each of our lives where we cannot see what lies ahead. We don’t know what God is doing in a given situation. All seems lost, or the way forward is unknown. That is where faith comes in. We live by believing, not by seeing.

Philippians 4:6 and 7 says, “6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

“The peace of God, which transcends all understanding…” All of the knowledge in the world, all of the “seeing” in the world, will not bring such peace. To have this peace, the peace of God, we need to decide to believe. Put the “need to know” away. You can’t know. Do your due diligence, to be sure, but then, make the decision and let the peace of God guard your heart and mind. He has made promises galore in regards to his love and protection. 

Decide to believe. Rest in God’s peace. Live as God guides you.

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 5-6 NIRV

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