The Sin You Don’t Think You’re Committing

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Happy Sabbath, everyone! Isn't that beautiful special music? I really appreciated that. Thank you, ladies. It was really wonderful. Wow, what an amazing meeting. I kept thinking, yeah, the first day of forever. Like, today is the first day of the rest of your life. That kept coming into mind as well. So, yeah, what a day that will be. I certainly look forward to that, so we really appreciate the beautiful music. When you hear the word sin, what comes to mind?

It seems that normally we think of some kind of a moral failure. Maybe it's lying, maybe it's lust, maybe it's greed. Could it be deceit or drunkenness or jealousy, gossip? It seems like a list of those sorts comes to mind judging or condemning others. I mean, no doubt those are real, and they're destructive sins. But the Bible warns us of something that's more subtle, something that's trickier. I think it's a deeper danger that lies beneath the surface of those outward behaviors. It seems to be a sin that can quietly hollow out our spiritual life, even when we look pretty good on the outside. So this afternoon, let's consider the sin you don't think you're committing. Could there be a sin you don't think you're committing? Well, the book of Hebrews points directly to it. So if you'll turn with me over to Hebrews 3, let's begin in verse 7. Hebrews 3, verse 7 speaks to people who knew God. Of course, pointing to an Old Testament example, it's speaking to us by extension. And this people that's referred to in Hebrews, they saw God's power. Yet, there's a problem. Notice what it says here in Hebrews 3, verse 7. It says, therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness. So we're going back to ancient Israel. They were coming out of Egypt. What was it like? Well, here they are at the Red Sea. It parted. God defeated Pharaoh. They found manna that miraculously fell from heaven. They heard God's voice at Sinai. He provided food, water, protection all along the way. He guided them in everything they needed. He provided for them. But what happened when they came to the Promised Land? They couldn't enter in. Well, why not? Was it a lack of opportunity? Was it a lack of miracles? Was it a lack of knowledge? Was it something else? I mean, they had all the information they needed. They had everything it seemed. And it wasn't that they didn't know God. And it wasn't that God wasn't with them. So what's the issue? Well, let's skip down a little bit to verse 19, Hebrews 3, 19. It says, so we see they could not enter in because of unbelief.

That line should stop us in our tracks. Unbelief was an invisible barrier that shut them out of the very promises of God. Do you think that could happen to us? Could unbelief shut us out while we think we're walking with God? You see, that's the sobering part of this example. Every morning, they got up and they saw the visible proof of God's presence with them. They could literally point to this pillar of cloud and say, well, yep, God's with us. How about that? And there it was. And they were following that pillar as it moved day by day, day in, day out for how long was it? 40 years. 40 years. And every night, there's the pillar of fire. How cool is that? Yet they didn't believe. I mean, imagine that contradiction. They saw the cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night. They saw God's continual presence right there, but they still complained. They still murmured. They still doubted. And they still feared. So every time faith knocked on the door, unbelief answered. And as you begin to think about that, that is that quiet voice that kind of drains us of faith. And for them, until they finally reached the border of the Promised Land, right at the very edge of fulfillment, unbelief said, no, I don't think we could do this. This just isn't going to work out. And that no cost them from entering the Promised Land. Now, of course, think spiritually. How does that relate to us? What is our Promised Land? Well, it's the Kingdom of God, the very Kingdom of God. And hopefully we can begin to see this connection. Because unbelief doesn't mean you've stopped seeing God. It doesn't mean that He's not there. But you've stopped trusting Him. You've stopped truly believing Him.

I mean, is it possible to be surrounded by the evidence of His presence? And yet we still live like that's not really enough. Of course, we're not wandering through the desert or anything like that physically. But we're certainly walking through a world that's just as barren, spiritually speaking. Now, what can we see? I mean, a pillar of cloud, a pillar of fire? Wow. They had that. But wait a second. What do we have? Well, we've got our own pillars. In fact, even better ones. We have the holy inspired Word of God that guides us and leads us and corrects us. We have the power of God's Holy Spirit that we can submit to and God promises to lead us. We have God's church that teaches and supports us. And yet, because of unbelief, we too could come right up to the edge of the kingdom and still fall short. I mean, let's not just talk about faith. Let's not just teach faith. Let's not even just preach faith because we could do those things and still never enter into the full blessings of God. That's possible. But instead, God calls us to be a people who He can lead and believe God enough so that we can enter in.

Now, since it's possible to be surrounded by God and be in His presence and yet still miss the promise, I think it should cause us to step back a little bit and ask, so what is unbelief? What is that? What exactly is unbelief? Let's start there. Number one, what is unbelief? Obviously, we look at the Israelites example. It's not ignorance. It's not not knowing. It's not confusion. And it's really not even doubt. Unbelief points to something else that's far deeper. In fact, I think it's far more dangerous. You think about the difference between doubt and unbelief. They are not the same. Doubt can ask questions, but unbelief decides the answers.

You see, doubt says, Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. But unbelief is deliberate. It's a deliberate choice to trust self over God. To act as though God and God's Word just might not be enough. You see, doubt can certainly cause us to have our questions. And it wants to see how, how could this work, God? But unbelief, on the other hand, it's not a problem in that type. It's not a problem of the mind. Unbelief is a problem of the will. What do you want to really do? It doesn't stem from a lack of understanding. Not at all. It stems from a lack of surrender to God's way. And when you think of that root of unbelief, there's an unwillingness there. And so right at the heart and core of unbelief is it's not an intellectual thing. It's a relational thing. Not intellectual. Relational. How is that true? How is unbelief relational? Well, we're to have a relationship with God. Jesus Christ is to be our Lord, our master, our high priest, our soon-coming King. We're supposed to have a close relationship with our elder brother and our father. But unbelief is relational because our will is saying no to God. Unbelief is a form of spiritual rebellion. And it can look reasonable. It can even sound mature. And it can pretend to be realistic. But underneath it all, it's saying God, God's Word, God's presence. That's not really enough for me. And I start to think, you know, yeah, I know what God says. I know what the Bible is telling me. I know what God's Word. But you know, I better have a backup plan just in case. And if we begin to think like that, it robs faith of its power. Now, if you hold your place here in chapter 3 of Hebrews, turn to chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11, of course, we probably know it as the faith chapter. Hebrews chapter 11, right at the very beginning of that chapter, very familiar section. And it reminds us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And so it begins to set the stage to battle unbelief. A little farther down in verse 6, it says, without faith, it's impossible to please Him. For He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So what a great reminder. This tells us that faith isn't a feeling. Instead, it's a conviction. It's a commitment. It's a trust that is action. It's taking God and His promises and trusting Him enough to do something about it, to act on them. Even when you look around and it seems like, it doesn't seem like it's going to work. This doesn't seem like it's enough. And that's what unbelief wants us to think. It wants us to think, yeah, I know what God says, but I'm not so sure about it. So I think ought to do this instead. You see, that's what unbelief says. But faith says, God, you're proven. You've proven yourself. You've promised. Your word is unchangeable, undoubtable. I promise that I will trust you. Even when it doesn't seem like I can see how. Even then.

And so I think it causes us to do a self-check. So in my life, where does unbelief hide?

Because it doesn't seem to announce itself. Here I am. You better do something about this. No, oftentimes it's hiding behind our own logic. It's hiding behind pride. Sometimes it hides behind fear. And when it does, I have to ask myself, where do I act like God can't be trusted? Is there somewhere in my life that I think in those kinds of terms? Well, I'm not sure if I can trust you, God. Can I trust God in my finances?

No, He calls on us to use our finances to honor Him. Can I really trust that? Can I trust you, God, in my relationships? What about my calling? Or can I really trust God in His church? Wow! Things are a mess. How can I possibly trust Him? Do I rationalize His word away? Do I justify my choices? You see, if I do that, then I'm choosing my own thoughts, my own ways, my own comfort over obedience. And when that happens, every time I do, unbelief grabs a little bit more ground. And so as we think about where unbelief might hide, I think we can begin to see something even deeper. The fact that it just doesn't stay hidden, if it's there, it wants more. It starts to spread, and it can become the root of so many sins that we struggle with. Have you ever considered that? Why is unbelief the root of so many sins? Let's think about that for just a moment. Why is unbelief the root of so many sins? Well, if we go back, where do sins start? Well, I think if you begin to trace it back far enough, you'll find at the root is unbelief, because it's a seed that begins to grow into just about every form of sin and rebellion. I mean, think about it. We begin thinking, well, God won't provide.

I'll take what I need. I'll take what I want. You see, unbelief's behind greed. It's what's behind covetousness. Well, I'm not sure God will actually forgive me. So I'm going to hide out. I'm going to ignore that. I'm going to pretend. That's unbelief behind guilt. That's unbelief behind shame. That's unbelief behind hypocrisy. We might think, well, God, you're not... doesn't seem like you're very near. So I look for comfort somewhere else.

Now, is it unbelief behind addiction? Is it unbelief behind trying to escape?

Isn't that what's behind compromise? Is it fair to say that every sin begins with a thought? With a thought. And that thought might very well be, God, I'm not sure I can trust you in this. And once that takes heart, what's not far behind? Disobedience. Disobedience can't be far behind. And that's exactly what happened in Israel. Now, if you hold your place here in Hebrews, go back to Numbers 14 and verse 11. Here's part of what the author was referring to in Hebrews when he gave this example in Israel. Numbers 14 verse 11. Now, as we look at this section of Scripture, we begin to see the explanation behind what Israel was about. Numbers 14, 11, it says, the Lord says to Moses, how long will these people reject me? And how long will they not believe me with all the signs which I performed among you? And so we see it wasn't a lack of miracles, it was a lack of faith. They had proof, they had the proof right before their eyes, but they didn't trust. And unbelief just kind of kept whispering to the Israelites, what if God doesn't come through? Yeah, okay, He did that, but what if He doesn't come through the next time? How can you be sure that He'll do that? And so they complained and they grumbled and they murmured and they turned back. They turned back, not because they didn't see the power of God, but because they didn't trust in God's character. They didn't trust Him. Now, if you held your place there in Hebrews, go back to Hebrews chapter 3. Go back to Hebrews chapter 3. And we'll read a little bit more of the summary of that story about Israel's rebellion and their unbelief. Hebrews chapter 3, notice verse 17. Notice verse 17. Here we find a little summary. It says, now, with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but those who did not obey? So you see this connection here? Disobedience and unbelief, they go hand in hand. They walk together. They always travel together. They're two sides of the exact same coin. When faith weakens, obedience collapses. And when we stop trusting God and His promises, then we put our trust in ourselves. We start believing what we think. So just the opposite should be occurring. Faith should fuel obedience instead of unbelief, fueling sin. And it's interesting that Hebrews doesn't just call it unbelief.

Do you know what it calls it? Well, let's go down to verse 12. If we step back just a little bit here in chapter 3, what's it called? Unbelief. Verse 12 says, beware, brethren, lest there be in you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort one another daily while it's called today. Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. And so here we see it is called evil. Unbelief is not just a neutral kind of a thing. If you really read this, you notice the fact that unbelief caused them to depart from God. Unbelief was active. It's departing. It's walking away from the true God step by step, little by little, until your heart is hardened and your ears grow dull. And so we see faith and obedience. They rise together, and unbelief and sin fall together. And when faith is strong, obedience is natural. When faith is weak and fades, that's where sin finds plenty of room to grow. So you see, the real spiritual battle is not just against temptation. It's against unbelief. And if you win the battle of faith, what follows? Obedience follows. And if you lose the battle of faith, then sin's at the door. And it makes you really realize that's why Christ said that it's the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent. Believe in the Father. Believe in Jesus Christ. That's not just, oh, I believe in Christ. Yeah, I believe Christ existed. Oh, I believe He's my Savior. I believe... No, that's just an outward appearance of things. Christ is talking about belief that's genuine and active and obedient and enduring, because that's the foundation of everything else. And so when we begin to think about that, we can imagine the impact and the cost that unbelief really has. Let's think about that for a moment. Let's think about the real life cost of unbelief. What does that look like? What does that look like in my life? What does it look like in your life? What does unbelief take shape as in our lives? I know. Anybody busy these days?

We're all busy, aren't we? Life is busy. Everyone is busy. So much is happening. Things are going on. We're building our careers. We're raising our families. We're trying to navigate relationships. We're trying to manage the pressures of life. We're serving. We're serving the church. And sometimes it seems we've got a pretty good handle on things. It looks pretty good as we look from the outside. But quietly, could there be some unbelief? Wow, what would that look like?

It doesn't necessarily rebel dramatically. There's this big event that happened in our life. And so I'm in rebellion against God. I don't think you find that. You'll find that unbelief seems to just kind of drift pretty quietly, little by little, and kind of sneaks in on us.

And it could show up because we know the truth. But, you know, I don't pray that much because, you know, I've noticed it doesn't seem to really change much of anything. I've seen, I've prayed but didn't have the result that I wanted. And so unbelief can say, well, yeah, of course God hears, but not all the time. It doesn't seem to hear me at times.

You see, unbelief can say, I have the truth. I have true doctrine. Well, the real question is, do you live by it? Do you live by it? We know the Bible says, do all things without murmuring and complaining.

Unbelief says, well, wait a second. I've got a pretty good reason to whine and complain because look at this what happened, and we justify it. Or we just live with other problems. God says, you have the truth. I am with you. I'll never leave you or forsake you. But I'm scared and I'm worried and I have anxiousness.

Unbelief rears its ugly head.

And unbelief seems to have a spirit of an accusation, an accusatory spirit. Do you know what they're really doing? Do you know what they're really thinking? This is why they did that. When you actually have no idea of the situation, but you're ready to place motivation on people. You're ready to accuse them. You're ready to find the worst possible solution to something that you're not even sure about. That's what unbelief says. And of course, having true doctrine, we've got God's Word. We might even read it. But when it comes to putting it into action and stepping out in faith, it really comes down to, well, I believe it in theory, but you know, in practice, I don't know if it really works that well. Or how about this? Real life unbelief? Hey, I know God is in charge. I know God is almighty. He is the creator of the universe. We have an awesome Savior in Jesus Christ. He is absolutely in charge of all things. I know it. But I wake up in the morning, and I'm stressed, stressed about the kids. I'm stressed about the future. I'm stressed about my finances. That's unbelief. That's saying God's in control, but not in my situation, not in what I'm dealing with. And you see, we could be faithful in the routine. Is that possible? Faithful in the routine, but really be spiritually dry. Because I got attend services. I could tithe. I can volunteer. But if it's just on autopilot, I'm going through the motions, but not really expecting transformation. Because that's our calling. We're to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Is that why we're living the way we live? I mean, we've all been there. We can do the right things on the outside, but inside, oh boy. And that's the deceptive nature of unbelief. It can look responsible. It can sound wise. It could even do the right things. But underneath, there's this heart that's starting to close off God's active involvement. That's a dangerous thing. It makes unbelief so dangerous. And it doesn't often explode faith with one giant bomb. Doesn't usually happen that way. Usually just drains it. Drip by drip. And then hardens the heart. And so you don't wake up one morning faithless, but you kind of drift there. Oh, I'm busy staying active. I'm looking okay. And yet when that unbelief takes root, it starts to erode. And I think it erodes three of the most vital aspects of our calling, of our Christian life. One of the things unbelief can take away is joy. Because it seems to replace praise with the pressures of life. Life becomes more about getting by and make it to the next day and surviving rather than being grateful for the blessings that God gives. And unbelief wants to steal our peace because, well, I have to take control. I have to be in control mode and be concerned about what's next, what's going to happen now. I'm not quite sure what's on the horizon. And unbelief can rob us of spiritual power because it really disconnects us from the very source of strength. We can be disconnected from God and His Holy Spirit so that we're not working through faith. I mean, we see that very example in Romans chapter 15. If you want to hold your place there in Hebrews, we'll come back for a moment. But Romans chapter 15 verse 13 shows this very thing, how drip by drip unbelief can erode us of these vital aspects of how God's really called us to live. Romans 15 verse 13.

It reminds us, now may the God of hope fill you with not just a little bit, not just a part, but may He fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. So if we recognize what this is really telling us, let's say, hey, joy and peace come through believing. You remove belief, you stop the flow, you cut it off. And you know, when we recognize this, we begin to see if we've ever said to ourselves, well, yeah, I know the Bible says that, but my situation doesn't apply here. What is that? That's unbelief. That's unbelief. And over time, those kinds of small exceptions really close us off and harden our heart. And that's why Hebrews tells us, today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. Do not harden your hearts. In fact, if you turn back to Hebrews 3, verse 15, that's where it exactly says that. And so every time God speaks, what should our reaction be? Well, when we're recognizing His Word, His Scripture, His inspired Holy Word, and as we're counseled in that Word, we're really given a choice. Today, will you hear His voice? Will you hear His voice? Will I actually trust Him and let my heart grow tender? Or will I think, this is kind of an exception, and allow unbelief to make it harder?

So we could ask, where have I let unbelief quietly sneak in the door? Where am I saying, I got this God, I got it, I got it. Instead of saying, God, you've got this, you've got this God. You see, that difference, that mindset, when we do it on our own, blocks the blessings of God. Because ultimately, God's called us to change.

And He points out how important this faith really is. And as we think about that, that changes us. Think about that for a moment. Faith should change how you live. Faith changes how you live. Because it's not to be this abstract kind of ethereal, I'm not really sure what that is, it's some kind of mystical. No, that is not what faith is. That's not how the Bible describes it. That's not what God wants us to think about when we think about faith.

It's really a practical power. It's not a vague feeling. And it's not just, well, I think I'll just put a happy face on everything and it'll be great. No, it's not blind optimism. It is definitely not that. It's a confident action that says, because God said it, and I serve a God who cannot lie, I believe it.

And not only do I believe it, but it's going to change and I will live it. I will live because it is true, even if I can't see the results yet, even if they're far off. Because we know, hey, faith doesn't erase all their problems. It doesn't take care of everything, does it? Nope. But it does transform how we look at those problems, how we face the issues in our life. Because when we think about that, yeah, some of these challenges that we may face could, yeah, it might sink some.

But God can use it to build and strengthen our faith. Because that faith will turn knowledge into obedience and can turn duty into, what we read in Romans, joy. And so as we recognize the story of the Israelites, we know that they didn't enter His rest. They weren't allowed in. Because those who trust and have faith and confidence in God, their belief leads them to live differently. And so if faith is active, boy, do you face things differently.

Because you could experience peace, even though life is chaos. Why? Because you know God's in charge. You know God is sovereign. You know His promises. That He promises to always be. So we've got to trust Him. We've got to trust His timing on things. Even if it seems delayed. And when we face it with faith, that means we can persevere. And we can hang in there when others might just give up.

Because we know His Word, His reward, is true. And so it reshapes us, doesn't it? When we have that kind of faith, I mean, just think about how that changes how you live at work. All right, I've got to go work out in this terrible world. Well, wait a second. Faith changes your job from survival and just making a buck into stewardship. You work with integrity. You work with purpose. Why? Because you know who you're really working for. You know who you're really serving. Yeah, faith changes how you live in your marriage.

Faith helps you love sacrificially. It's like, well, if she didn't do that for me, so why should I bother? No, love is self-sacrificing. In marriage, faith looks like forgiving deeply, building together, not just putting up with each other. That's unbelief. No, it's thriving. In parenting, what does it look like? Well, faith teaches you to trust God. When that day comes, when you're like my wife and I, and you're laying on your bed looking up to God, saying, what are we supposed to do?

What are we supposed to do? Well, I'm going to trust God in His timing. I have to trust God with my children because sometimes there is nothing I can do to change that. Of course, I've got to model what real faith, what real belief looks like, not just talk about it, not just preach it. When I go home from church, I better be putting into practice all the values that I heard about at church because our children will see that immediately. Oh, you talk a good talk, but how are you living? You'll see that hypocrisy right away, and that's evidence of unbelief.

And in real life, in our friendships, in our relationships, faith inspires us to encourage and lift others up instead of putting them down or instead of comparing or criticizing and looking at people as though you're competing with them. That's not God's way. And when we are going through trials, faith keeps you steady. Faith keeps us on track. And there are so many biblical examples of this that even though God's people went through so many severe trials, so oftentimes the end of the story is, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.

God's in charge. And so when faith takes root, the door is open to everything, everything that God promised. Now, if you head back for a moment to Romans, let's look at Romans chapter 5 for just a moment and just build on this concept for a moment on how faith changes how you live.

Romans chapter 5 right at the beginning of that chapter, verse 1, we see an insight into this very principle. Romans chapter 5 verse 1, it reminds us, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, first of all, that tells us it's not just knowing that Jesus is my Savior. Oh, the blood of Christ covers my sin. Oh, yeah, that's true. But I have to have full faith and confidence that that is the case.

In order to be forgiven of sin, in order to have the penalty removed, I have to have faith that His sacrifice is on my behalf and covers my sin. I'm justified by my faith in that sacrifice, not just the fact that He was sacrificed. That's just part of it. But I have to have the confidence and faith to absolutely know at the depth of my being. That applies to me. And then I can have peace with God, he says, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And so we see how peace unlocks this whole thing through faith. And it's not because circumstances change, is it? He doesn't say, hey, everything's going to change and be better and you'll have a better life and all the events that you're dealing with will just go away. No, it doesn't say that. It's not because circumstances change, it's because you change. Your perspective changes, your attitude changes. It unlocks joy, not because life is easy, but it's because you know who holds your life in his hand. And it unlocks power because faith gives God's spirit a place to work unhindered. And so when you live by that kind of faith, you stop being controlled by fear.

You stop being controlled by frustration. You stop being controlled by anger or fatigue. And you begin to see God's fingerprints in every circumstance. Yeah, even in the most difficult ones.

So what do we do? What do we do? How can we begin to overcome?

Well, let's think about a few practical steps that we can overcome unbelief because we certainly recognize faith isn't just going to automatically grow. That's not going to happen. It's not just going to happen by osmosis. I come to church and I'll automatically be more... No, it doesn't work like that. You see, faith is cultivated. Faith is cultivated. And so when we think about practical steps to overcome unbelief, we have to recognize that faith has to be tended. You have to tend to faith. You have to feed it. You have to act on it. And so let's look at a couple of biblical actions that we could do right now. We can put into practice this week to strengthen our trust in God. So I've got four things that we could do. Practical steps. Practical steps. All right, first, I have to identify the lie. That sounds pretty harsh. Well, wait a second. Unbelief always begins with a lie. It seems to be connected to a distorted thought about God, God's character, God's care, God's Word. You know, is that really the way that it is? I've got to identify that. And so I've got to ask myself, where do I struggle to trust God? Where do I struggle? Will God really meet my needs? I mean, that's about His provision. That's about His care. That's about Him taking care of me. Will He really, really meet my needs? What about His timing? Well, why hasn't this happened yet? God, you know, I've been praying about this over and over. It seems like it's just going on and on week after week, month after month. Do you know what's going on? What's taking you so long? And of course, His purpose. His purpose. His purpose. Do I identify? Does He really know what He's doing in my life?

And sometimes it might come down to His forgiveness. Because I messed up. Wow, I knew better and I shouldn't have been doing that. God, can you still love me after that?

Is that possible? And then, of course, God's judgment. God, will you really make things right?

And I think as we begin to look at our own lives, we look at those various areas, we can write those problems, those things we're struggling with, entrusting God. Write Him down and then confront that lie with the truth of God. Confront that lie with a verse, a verse of truth. I was thinking of a kind of a generic example because oftentimes we may thank God, I don't know what's going on because I thought this would happen by now. You ever think God's timing is a little bit off? I know I have. Well, I thought of that example of Abraham. He looked back at the story of Abraham. When he was 75 years old, he was promised a son. In fact, like the sands of the sea would be his offspring. Well, how long did it take until Isaac was born?

Yeah, not a year later, not five, not a decade. 25 years later, he's a hundred years old. And even when God reminded him of that promise, Abraham laughed about it. He laughed about it. And so it's interesting, but he did promise, and that promise was fulfilled. And I think it's amazing what's said about that completion of the promise. If you look there really quickly, you hold your place here in the New Testament. Genesis 21, here we see the timing of God. Genesis 21 verse 2. Here this son is finally born, finally born. Of course, you remember the story. Abraham took it in upon himself. Well, I guess, God, you're not going to do this. So I've got Hagar over here, and we'll take care of this promise on our own. That's not going to work. That's not the promise of God. But when it finally came to pass, Genesis 21.2, it says, Sarah bore Abraham a son at the set time of which God had spoken. You see, that's such a great reminder. The truth is God's timing is never random. It's never random. He fulfills every single promise right on schedule. Right? It's his schedule. Right on his schedule. So identify that shortcoming, that lie that you might be harboring. Secondly, a biblical action we could take this week? Choose one act of trust. Choose one act of trust because faith isn't just something, oh, I feel faithful. No, it's something you do. It's an action that you take. It's evidenced in what we do and what we say. So if you think about that, can I choose an act of trust? Oh, that might mean I have to forgive somebody that did me dirty.

Can you do that? Could we choose to serve? Even when this isn't very convenient. Can I serve when it's a sacrifice? Or is it only out of convenience? Which one demonstrates faith and which one unbelief? Can I really give even if it's just stretching my own security, my own feeling?

Can I speak up for the truth when it's easier just to step back and stay quiet?

I think every act that we choose to act out of trust is an act of obedience that really plants that seed of faith. And so it's not just believing God can. We need to act knowing that He will, that He will. And so choose one act of trust this week. A third thing we can do. Feed on the word of God daily. Feed on... Oh, I've heard this one before. Yeah, I study my Bible. Yep. Okay, you know, I gotta do those things. Wait, Romans 10.17, you probably have it memorized, right? Faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of God. Hearing the word of God. Yeah, that's telling me, okay, I have to hear, I have to listen. But can I survive on last week's sermon? Well, I did my duty and I went to church. Or I might say, well, you know, I took that to heart and I've listened to 10 sermons in the last three days.

Okay, that has benefits that don't necessarily want to put that down.

But can we really equate that to hearing and studying? Well, it depends what we do with those sermons we're listening to. Because when he says faith comes by hearing, that word hearing implies so much more than just listening. It's not just listening. It means receiving. It takes on that connotation if you were to look up that Greek word. So not just hearing, it means being attentive. It means being receptive. And so it's not just going in my ears. It's truth that's going in and it's getting to my heart and to my mind so that I'm going to do something about it. And so this daily feeding, we need spiritual nourishment every single day. Wow, that's a new and shocking truth, isn't it? No, it's not at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard it. I got it. No, I need to do it. I know God's there. He's there. I got his Bible. Sits there on my bedstand. Oh yeah, it kind of sits there on my bedstand. Yeah, okay. I know God tells me I should, but do I really dig in? Do I really open it up? And I've got that Bible. And am I really listening and receiving his Word and doing something about it? Am I really feeding on that Word? Because when we think about feeding on the Word, I think of eating. Anybody have lunch today? Anybody have breakfast today? All right, if not, we're probably running out of energy pretty quickly here, right? No, I've got to eat to survive. If I quit eating, I'm going to die. That's what's going to happen. Same thing spiritually. If I don't feed on the Word of God every day, spiritually, I cannot survive. And how much better would that be in growing our faith to take that time to dig in and really be nourished by his Word rather than an hour of scrolling? Oh, I've got time to check out my notifications. I've got time to do that. Digging the Word of God? Yeah, I know I should. I'll do that. I'll get there. One of these days, I'll get to that. So it comes down to a matter of choice. Are we really feeding? Are we really being nourished by God's Word? Okay, fourth action. I put down reflect and recommit. Reflect and recommit. Reflect is kind of the... I'd like to think that it's a little hip way of saying meditate. I'm not sure it is, but somebody have to correct me if not. Yeah, I think of reflecting on something as meditate. And it's interesting as you think about that connection to faith, you just don't come up with faith. You don't kind of just get into or drift into deeper faith because it's not going to grow on its own. It's when we stop long enough to really think deeply about God. We think deeply about His Word. We see applications for our own life. We see how that might apply to me. How often do we read a passage of Scripture and say, well, yeah, I know somebody that applies to, but not me. That doesn't have anything to do with me. I know they need to deal with that, but I don't have to. No! Do we really let His Word and His way sink in and then recommit ourselves to change and to grow? Because, boy, we live in this hurry up, get it done kind of world that's scrolling and multitasking and notifications and all this background noise. Because there's always one more text, one more email, one more meeting, one more thing I've got to check on. But when I get that done, then I'll get to it.

And of course, in the middle of all that, it's easy to go a day, days, maybe even weeks without really, really talking to God, without really listening to God. But He's there. God is always there for us. He's always faithful. He's always near. But if we never talk to Him, if we never listen to Him, can we really say we have a relationship with Him? Well, we know God. I mean, what would you call that in real life?

I'd call that an acquaintance. Kind of like following somebody on social media. I know none of us do that. Anybody follow people on social media? All right, you do, no doubt. All right, what happens? Oh, I see their updates. Yeah, I even like their posts.

But they wouldn't know me from Adam, right? I don't know them. I don't talk to them. I don't really have a relationship with them. I'm not close to them. Yeah, we're just kind of connected, right? It's like all my friends on Facebook. I don't know them, but we're just kind of connected. And you know what that reminds me of? That reminds me of Matthew 7.21. And I won't turn there because you know this. It's what Christ said.

Christ said, Why do you call me Lord, Lord? Why do you call me Lord, Lord? You don't do the things I say. And what's his ultimate response? He says, You call me Lord, Lord, but I never knew you. That's kind of like social media. Yeah, and as I think about that, it's kind of scary to think. What would Jesus say to me right now? How close am I? Because that real relationship means real two-way communication. Has to be there. Truly hearing his words, speaking, talking to God, and acting upon his word. Sharing our deepest thoughts with him in prayer. Taking time to reflect and meditate on his word. And we can do that. It's not that hard. What did we do last night? Hey, Friday night, it's the beginning of the Sabbath. Okay, maybe we have a special meal. We can make it part of our our habit to just stop, step back, and look back at this week and recount it. And it's not just to relive, wow, I messed up there and I didn't do that and I should have done that. Oh, those things can become pretty obvious. Yeah, no doubt. But we could also say, Where was I successful? Where did I really trust God? Where did I really see and trust his presence with me this last week? Yeah, and of course we're going to have, okay, where do I need to grow? Where do I need to change? Or where did I see him step in? I didn't even realize that happened until I looked back and, wow, he cared for me. And I knew he was right. Where was he this week? Even those things, those little teeny little small things that maybe I have such a tendency to overlook. You see, that doesn't come to mind just automatically. That's something I've got to step back and think about and really ponder for a while, really reflect upon, really meditate on that. And with life, it seems like, boy, I looked back on this week and I was going through a storm.

We all know what it's like to drive through a blistering storm. I know Kathy and I have been through many. Life can be like a giant storm. Have you had some storms? Yeah, we've experienced storms of health. We've had storms in our relationships. Yeah, and there's been plenty of storms within the church and the rain is coming down and beating on us and those wipers can't even keep up. It's so bad. Sometimes it's so difficult. You can't even see. You're straining to see the lines and the signs and everything is just blurred and you're white knuckling that steering wheel, not even able to see what's right there in front of you. And when life brings that kind of a storm, boy, there's only one thing that we ought to do. We've got to give it over to God because you can't see the road signs. But God knows the road. You can't see what's ahead. Well, who's already there? See, God's already there. And eventually those difficulties and trials in life, yeah, the storm passes. The clouds kind of break up and then you're looking in the rear view mirror and, oh, it's it's behind me. It's behind me. God brought me through. And it wasn't because I navigated it myself and I had such clear vision. No, it's because we have a faithful guide to steer us through. And as faith grows and grows, we can look back and we can say, He really was there all along. I couldn't see the way, but He knew the way through the storm. And so that's so critical. And then the important fact that once it's in the rear view mirror, anybody like to turn around and go back? Let's go back through the storm all over again. No, don't do that. It's in the rear view mirror. Leave it there. Leave the pain behind. Leave the offense behind. Leave the struggle behind. Don't go back to fear. Don't go back to anxiousness. No, don't put it in its place and go on. God is with you. And so if it begins to feel weak in our faith, we can pray and say, God Almighty, please, I believe, but help me where I doubt. Strengthen me when I'm weary. Remind me of the fact that you are faithful even when I'm forgetful. Because that changes everything and turns that weakness into worship. And when we do that, it leads us to recommitment. That daily decision to put it all in God's hands all over again. Every day. Every day. Because that faith is not a one-time thing. It's a continual perspective. Because every day is going to bring another opportunity, another circumstance, another event to say, God, today I will trust you again. Not just that, I'll trust you again. Because we can keep that goal in mind. Faith itself is not about being perfect. Because, humanly speaking, we never will be. But it is about being persistent. Because when we fall, look to God. He'll help us get up. When we doubt, look to Him. Turn back to God. And when we're weary and struggling, lean harder into His promises. Because, yes, we are not flawless people, but God can give us a faith that endures. A faith that reflects and recommits again and again and again. And one day we can look back and we can say, you know, I almost gave up.

But God carried me through. I almost thought I wasn't going to make it. But God was there always for me. And that's what overcoming unbelief really looks like. It's not perfection. It's perseverance. It's not having all the answers, but holding on to the one who does. God has all the answers. And imagine those Israelites. They were on the very verge of receiving God's blessing, but unbelief stopped them. Don't let that be our story. We don't want to live on the border. We don't want to live on the edge of God's promises, because God is calling us not just to know His truth, not just to understand His truth, but to live it and trust the truth. Because that unbelief isn't just a small little flaw. It can be a root of sin. But fortunately, God gives us faith and wants us to grow in faith. And He's going to do everything He possibly can to have that faith grow, a real, steady, growing, living faith. Because that's the door to everything that God has promised. And so today, today if you will hear His voice, and that means now, today. That's from Psalm 92. That's a Sabbath Psalm, in fact, that was traditionally read on the Sabbath. Today, if you'll hear His voice, now's the time. Now's the time. Not when life slows down, not when things are just right, not when everything makes sense. No, today, now. And so we can exhibit that kind of faith. Faith that says, God, you have proven yourself before. Your word says you absolutely are faithful, and I will trust you again today. So let's not stand on the border of blessings. Let's step in. Let's trust Him. And let's put that unbelief in the rearview mirror.