GodReflection: It’s Jesus Friday
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25).
I trust my doctor as long as I believe in him. When belief evaporates so does trust.
As a child I knew I could trust Santa to bring a spectacular gift at Christmas. When belief in Saint Nick evaporated so did trust of his ability to honor my gift list.
At first I envisioned this post would highlight trust as a doctrine of Jesus. The more thought I placed into the consideration of trust as a doctrine of Jesus, the more apparent it became that I was on the wrong track.
To believe is the doctrine taught by Jesus. Trust is nothing more than my response. Either I believe Jesus to be the perfect Son of God as he claimed or I disbelieve. Either I believe in God or I live in disbelief.
If my belief is genuine then my trust follows. If I decide Jesus is nothing more than a wise teacher; then no longer can I trust him to have walked on water or to walk with me daily or to grant me eternity with Father God.
The Gospel written by the Apostle John is rightly referred to as The Gospel of Belief.. He wove the word into his Gospel eighty-four times.
Early in the Gospel he records the purpose of Jesus’ mission as, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
And as he brings his Gospel account to a close his summation statement is that he had a bounty of miracles demonstrated by Jesus to select from, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31).
Jesus’ resurrection gives me grounds to believe. No one other than Jesus in all of history was ever raised from the dead never to die again. So, I choose to place my trust in him.
Belief is foundational to trust. The story of Jesus lays authentic ground for belief.
Here’s my problem.
I believe in Jesus but my trust factor moves up and down across the screen like heart beats on an electrocardiogram.
There are times of upswing trust and times when trust isn’t as strong. It takes a dip.
When I look with introspection into my heart I think of events where trust was strong—grounded in belief of Holy power—when God blessed my trust factor in rather remarkable ways.
Sadly, I can also list far too many occasions when I failed to trust fully God, His Son, and Spirit. I missed out on what could have been rather remarkable adventures because my trust needle fell toward empty. At those times I believed—but not that much.
It’s Jesus. Right Jesus Makes Right Doctrine. Belief is a doctrine of Jesus.
Is there a chance you might share with me a story of a time when your belief in the power of Jesus and your trust meter ran strong?
Or, how about a time when belief weakened and your trust needle plunged?
I’ve lived both. Trust based upon my belief in Jesus is a lot more satisfying than seeing the needle drop. What do you think?
Stay tuned.
Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – A GodReflection on Belief as Jesus Doctrine
God Reflection 