…Opening To…

Oh, help me, God! For thou alone
Canst my distracted soul relieve.
Forsake it not: it is thine own,
Though weak, yet longing to believe. (Anne Brontë)

…Listening In…

I love you, O Lord my strength, O Lord my stronghold, my crag, and my haven. My God, my rock in whom I put my trust, my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my refuge; you are worthy of praise. (Psalm 18:1-2)

…Filling Up…

God is the One in whom we can always rest our weight. God is the One who never fails to keep a promise. Therefore, God is the one whom we can always believe. When we reserve the word “believe” for God alone, we can begin to recapture the majesty that the concept of belief has lost through overuse in unworthy situations.

If believing is about resting your weight on something, then belief means knowing and trusting the something that takes your weight. This is your foundation. Every foundation that is not God is not a foundation at all, but a structure built on God, who is the ultimate foundation. God is, so to speak, the ground upon which everything rests. Believing in God is all about not being content until you find that ground, that deepest foundational level, upon which to rest your weight.

Through metaphors about rocks and strongholds, the people who wrote the Bible express this understanding of God being the foundation. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expresses this same understanding when he tells the story about two people, one who built a house on sand and the other who built a house on rock. Of course, the house built on the rock weathers the storm. The next time you use the word “believe,” ask yourself if the context surrounding that word is your rock and your foundation. If not, I invite you to try a different word.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are my rock and my foundation. You are the ground on which I walk, the One walking with me, and the One to whom I am destined. Help me believe in you so that I may see your road laid out beneath me; in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, knowing that you are the foundation of all truth. You believe in me, which allows me to believe in you.