Verify...even your faith.

We’ve all done it, myself included. We’ve all made the mistake of misunderstanding a situation and then acting in ways that brought us trouble. Incorrect info, questionable counsel, suspect sources or simply not knowing…whatever the reason, we’ve all embarrassed ourselves or others, failed a test, lost money and opportunities—the list goes on. And you know what?

We’re gonna do it again. Absolutely. 100%. No doubt about it.

UNLESS…!!

Unless we check and verify in advance!

It does seem like common sense, which is probably why we overlook it so often. Let’s take a look at some examples why VERIFYING is SO IMPORTANT.

Situation 1: You wake up in the morning and noticed, “My alarm hasn’t gone off yet.” You then roll over blissfully to continue your slumber. Hours later you wake up and realize you’re late for class or work because you hadn’t set your alarm the night before.

Situation 2: You’re surfing the web and click (perhaps accidentally) a link urgently telling you that your computer is infected by spyware. You begin an online chat with someone who promises to “help” if you pay $X¹⁰. They convince you to give them remote access to your computer. You find out only days later that it was a scam.

Situation 3: You heard through a friend of a friend that a friend said something super mean about you. You get SOOOO mad and vow to give the offending “friend” a piece of your mind! When you do, it turns out that the friend had said something completely different, or they were taken out of context. Now you’re left picking up the pieces and trying to put the relationship back together.

Situation 4: AI. ‘nuff said.

If you’re not convinced by these examples, let’s turn to faith.

Wait, faith? Why would we need to verify our faith? Check this out:

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Sometimes even believers get caught up in thinking they’re doing “God’s Will” when they really aren’t. We get some “inspiration” and start running with it cuz, let’s face it, the inspiration feels good. Maybe it follows something we’ve wanted deep in our hearts. And because we’re so convinced, we don’t thoroughly check through prayer and God’s Word. We end up wasting time and other resources on something that was never meant to work out because it was never being done with God in the first place.

Here’s the point. Absolute faith doesn’t come from believing just anything we see in the Bible. Absolute faith comes from evidence and experience by putting the Word into action.

Matthew 7:24-25 ²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

Putting Jesus’s Word into practice gives us the evidence that makes our faith absolute. If it works, that is the evidence. If it doesn’t work, it means not that Jesus’s Word is wrong but that we are misunderstanding his Word. It means we need to dig more deeply to figure out what it actually means.

One more example. The Bible says that the sun stopped about a full day when Joshua prayed, allowing the Israelites to win the battle they were fighting. (See Joshua 10:12-14.)

For the sun to stop, it needs to be moving first. But the reason we have day and night is because the earth rotates on its axis, not the motion of the sun. When the 15^th-16th century scientist Galileo Galilei used his telescopes to observe the solar system, he realized that the SUN was at the center, not the earth. The church then persecuted him and forced him to recant.

But now, based on Galileo’s and others’ work, we take it for granted that the earth rotates around the sun. Why? Because it’s been verified through the action of direct observation.

This account is hugely simplified, but you get my point. Even in faith, we need to VERIFY if what we are thinking, doing, and saying about God and Jesus is actually correct. We’re not questioning the Word itself. We’re checking our interpretation of the Word. When we verify by taking action, in faith and in all areas of life, we allow ourselves to grow in reality with God.

Of course, you may wonder, “Then how did God make it seem like the sun stopped at Joshua’s time? Did he make the earth stop rotating? And why was it written that the sun stopped?” Great questions. If you’re interested in learning more, reach out to me (Steve) by email (truth.on.the.go1@gmail.com) or fill out the questionnaire by clicking “Connect”.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Steve