Believing

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how important believing is. This seems to be true in almost any arena of life you could mention: from athletes who perform so much better when they believe they have the skill to surpass previous records to sales people who have significantly better sales if they believe in what they are selling. But the specific context I’m thinking about is the God context. It looks to me as though believing is pretty crucial here too.

The Gospel of John speaks a lot about believing, most famously in 3:16 (For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, NIV). But the verses I am presently most impressed by are in Ephesians 1:17–19, where Paul is writing about “the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe….” (Amp). What is striking a chord with me is not the part God plays in the equation, spectacular as that is, but the part we play. Admittedly the Amplified Bible throws in extra adjectives to make it more impressive, but even the NIV is unequivocal: “his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

It seems clear that a great power is available to us … if we believe that it is available to us. Our belief is an essential, activating ingredient.