Beginning to Trust.   Part Three

Proof is what I looked for throughout my life searching for belief in God’s Word.  It seemed I had proof of everything except God.  I trusted my bicycle because I proved to myself that I could ride it.  I trusted math because I  proved my answers over and over and over until my trust was enough and I went on to have faith in it.  I was convinced that I could learn anything if I put my mind to it.  I’m now convinced that ‘trust’ is evident at the beginning of everything I know.

Everything except God.  I wanted so much to believe the Bible but I could only remember one thing I trusted about God.  It was something I learned in about grade six.  The class was marveling at the number 1961 that said the same thing if you rotated it 180 deg.  Someone asked if there were other numbers like that so we all tried for a while but couldn’t find one.  Then someone asked ” If we keep going back in time what happened at zero years” ?  The answer the teacher gave (and the teacher is always right!), was to be the first proof I knew about God’s Word.

To me at the age of about 13 yrs. this was absolute proof of at least something in the Bible and I trusted it.  It was to become an immovable anchor, permanently wedged between and doubt and belief.  I could not deny this one fact yet I couldn’t seem to find anymore proof like that.  My attempts at going to church ended in disbelief and frustration.  There seemed to be no end of things we must be doing and must have faith in but not a word about how to do it.  This constant barrage of information, must does, must haves, and must believes, never seemed to be accompanied by any kind of proof.  It was all hear-say without it.

It is in this lack of proof where churches fail.  Failure to provide proof benefits Satan’s plans and not God’s.  Without proof, people are being asked to disregard the way they have learned everything else in life, and just believe what they are hearing, what they are being told.  The concept of believing without proof seems to be how many people view the act of having faith.  The more they can throw reason to the wind and just believe, the stronger they see their own faith, and I think, see themselves as different from other people.

I must make it very clear that I do not lay blame to anyone or any church, it is how I see things that can only be explained by the effect Satan has on this world; all of which lead all of us away from God.  Satan’s effect on churches have led them away from looking for and finding proof of the good of God’s Word.  Without proof God’s Word remains hopeful but irrational.  Many people suffer the consequence of confusing their hope as their faith.  The distinction between the two has become blurred without a clear understanding of their differences.  Proof is essential.

Proof is a state of mind.  Proof is not a thing, person, place, or anything detected by any of our five senses.  Proof is a state of mind achieved when a threshold of trust has been reached.  The mind sets this threshold itself depending on the accuracy or dependability of the proof.  Our mind recognizes it as proof instantly if you touch a flame compared to someone telling you a thousand times it will hurt it you touch the flame.  Someone telling you will never be seen as good a proof as experiencing it yourself will be.  Thus says the Bible, trust is the beginning of knowledge and understanding.  Without proof we do not trust.

If we do not have proof we will have hope but not trust.   With proof we begin to trust, with repetition that trust accumulates toward the threshold our mind has set for proof and acceptance as fact.  This ‘learning process’  is the same for everyone and everything including the Word of God.

KU teaches how to apply God’s Word in such a way as to produce two distinct options to any situation.  One option is the secular one we are used to, the other, the less familiar spiritual one.  If we try to decide which one is better in some way, our mind sets a threshold for proof.  We will weigh both options searching for proof that one way is better than the other until the threshold is reached or, cannot be reached;  believable or not believable.  This is one way of searching for truth as if for silver, as recommended in the Bible.

KU