What’s the difference between believing in God versus believing God?

“’ Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”

Romans 4:3 (NIV)

Lesson #3 on a Journey to a Water Well.

Anyone who walks with Jesus quickly realizes God may offer us salvation in a moment, but sanctification takes a lifetime. And some of us are on the extended path to sanctification. Last time, we explored how God used a half-hearted yes to Nigeria to demonstrate His faithfulness. I wish I could say I returned from Nigeria mature in my faith and confident in His faithfulness. I didn't. I like to identify with spiritual giants like Moses, but the wayward Israelites are a better comparison. 

Fast-forward twenty years from my time in Nigeria. 2013, my oldest and dearest friend wrapped the book "Kisses from Katie" as a Christmas gift. The book was unexpected, but God was sending a message. 

When I read Katie's book as a wife and mother with four small children, I realized Katie did what I would not. She led a life of purpose, passion, and satisfaction. Katie offered Christ a whole-hearted yes and followed Him to Africa as an eighteen-year-old single girl. 

When Katie wrote, I did not see mud huts, malaria, HIV, or starving children, although I am sure they were there. Instead, I saw three young Ugandan girls with no father or mother and a collapsed, rickety shack. I saw big brown eyes with shaved heads and bright smiles, all alone in the world with no one to love them or look after them. I saw women broken and rejected with no money, skills, or hope. I saw a grandmother with AIDS, too tired to lift her head and with no one to feed her. God showed me men and women, boys, and girls, in need of love. In need of hope.

For the first time, God's voice transcended my fears. He showed me what Christ saw when Jesus said, "…they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:36).

So many years before, I had doubted God. I realized that although I had believed in God, I had failed to believe God. I had thought they were the same thing. 

I believed in Jesus. I believed He was good enough to forgive me of my sins, but I struggled to believe He was good enough to be trusted with my life. 

Romans 4:3 says Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. It doesn't say Abraham believed in God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. It's a subtlety worth studying.  

If you study Abraham, you realize He chose to believe God when God's prompt was hard, His promise impossible, and when the path to the promise didn't look good.

Abraham believed God when His prompt was hard. In Genesis 12, God told Abram to leave his country, people, and family and go to a land God would show him. That required Abram to leave everything he had ever known and go to a place he had never seen. 

Then, Abraham believed God when the promise seemed impossible. In Genesis 15, God told an old barren Abram He would be the father of a great nation, and his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. The promise didn't seem possible. 

Finally, Abraham believed God when the path to the promise didn't seem good. In Genesis 22, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. The command didn't seem reasonable. Yet, Abraham believed God and took Isaac up a mountain. God spared Isaac the moment before Abraham would fulfill His command.

Over the years, when I had read about Abraham, I assumed he had this almost supernatural ability to believe God. But when I began to dig into God's Word and study Abraham, I realized he was a flawed man who struggled with his fair share of fears (Gen. 12:12, 20:11). I recognized this same supernatural ability to believe God in Katie. But the more I processed Katie's book and thought about Abraham, God began to shift my perspective. The Holy Spirit pointed out that Katie was confronted with the same uncertainties and fears as I had, yet she offered God a whole-hearted yes. 

Then I realized maybe it wasn't that Abraham or Katie had a supernatural ability to believe; perhaps they chose to believe. 

And maybe, that was the difference between me and Abraham and Katie. It wasn't my abilities; it was my choices. My choice to believe when the prompt was hard, promise impossible, or when the path to the promise didn't look good.

Maybe you, too, have found yourself in the same predicament. You certainly believe in Jesus, but you struggle to trust Him when His prompt doesn't feel or look good. If you've wondered what the secret is to leading a more dynamic spirit filled-life, maybe the next step in your faith journey is choosing to believe.  

I can't help but wonder how silly Katie must have felt when the Holy Spirit prompted her to build a secondary school in Uganda. I'm guessing as a twenty-something-year-old girl without a college education, she may have felt a little underqualified, and maybe the promise God was offering felt a little too impossible. I've noticed most of God's prompts require us to stretch. They require faith.  

I still haven't forgotten the lesson God taught through the book "Kisses from Katie." He taught He moves believers from unfulfillment to fulfillment by teaching them to choose to believe. 

I may have closed Katie's book, but God had opened my heart.

Lessons learned through a journey to a water well in Uganda.

1. Fixating on fear will prevent you from saying yes and taking steps of faith.

2. If you want to experience God’s faithfulness, you must do something that requires faith. Say yes to Him.

3. If you want to live a life of passion, purpose, and satisfaction, you must choose to believe God when His prompt is hard, the promise impossible, and when the path to the promise doesn’t look good.

Want more? Start here.

1.     Read Genesis 15: 5-8.

2.     How did Moses’ response in verse 8 demonstrates his struggle or choice to believe?

3.     Has there been a time in your life when you have been unwilling to believe God’s prompt, promise, or path to His promise?

4.     Which causes you to doubt God the most: When His prompt is hard? When His promise seems impossible? Or, when the path to the promise doesn’t look good?

5.     In what way do you need to choose to believe Him?