Did God Really Say?

Genesis 3:1

This is an entry for those who know they have been running. If you are the kind of person I'm referring to you know that your life is in conflict with the life you should be leading. You have been faced with choices and you have chosen to walk down dark paths for some attractive reason. You have been justifying your choices by hiding behind doubts that hearken back to the Garden of Eden--whispers like "did God really say?" (Genesis 3:1)

The seed of doubt planted in any mind can grow into a full blown destructive lifestyle. For some, it begins with a hurt and the whisper goes something like this: "How could God let this happen?" This seed grows most quickly into the specter of unbelief.

Others who long so desperately to feel they belong will practically sell their souls to feel someone accepts them. The whisper for these may be, "How do you know the Bible is God's Word? Yes, these are the kinds of people it warns about. But, when was the last time following that book ever paid off for you?"

Faith is not the complete absence of doubt. Acting on faith often must be in spite of our doubts. I believe that certainty is something increasingly rare today and achieved only by those who have conquered their doubts through repeatedly experiencing God's faithfulness. Indeed, these people would neither claim to have all the answers to life's problems, nor would they pretend the path of faith is smooth and easy. But, whatever else they have, they all have this in common: they can tell when the whispers of doubt are in the wind and they fight them off with the truth of God's Word.

Hear now encouraging words spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.