Overcoming Unbelief

Originally posted on Jan. 25, 2023

THEME TEXT: Hebrews 3:14-15 “For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”

We are just finishing up our series on A Great Start, believing God for a great start, since it is the beginning of the year, and we want the year to be a good, productive year, in which we make progress, a year in which we make a greater impact, a year in which we take ground and move forward into more territory.

This being the case, we are definitely going to need a strong faith to make these things happen. If we want a year of victories, then we need to be plugged into the spiritual truth that, according to 1 John 5:4 “whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.”

So as we move forward and go in faith, we’re going to talk about the greatest challenge to faith, or what I would call the kryptonite to faith, which is unbelief.

Tonight, we are going to talk about overcoming unbelief.

First thing I want to do is define what unbelief is:

1. Doubt

2. Not believing (UN- belief)

3. Insecurity

4. Lack of confidence

There is a website that I reference on a regular basis: faithschool.org. Great lessons on faith taught by Bro. Keith Moore, the pastor of the Faith Life Church in Sarasota, FL and in Branson, Missouri. And on that website, there is a great resource right at the top of the landing page called “Symptoms of Unbelief”. And it is a checklist of various symptoms of unbelief. And the very first item on the checklist is: “Moved by what you see.” So, in other words, if you are moved by what you see, then it is a sure sign that you are NOT standing in faith, but in…UNBELIEF!!

And if you’re in unbelief, you’re not gonna overcome, because the victory that overcomes the world is FAITH. So!! We need to learn HOW TO OVERCOME UNBELIEF!!

1. How in the world can a person NOT be moved by what they see? I mean, we have all heard the phrase, “Seeing is believing.” And most of us have lived by that motto all our lives. How do you retrain yourself to come out of “seeing is believing” and move into “believing is seeing?”

What do I mean by “believing is seeing?” Turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 17:25-26, 45-47.

David believed he was going to destroy Goliath THAT DAY. And he surely saw it come to pass. On the other hand, the soldiers who were cowering in fear saw Goliath and believed what he was saying.

The man who used his faith and believed, then SAW his victory come to pass.

The men who used no faith, who had symptoms of unbelief – moved by what they saw, were insecure, lacked confidence- they saw, and then believed what they saw. To their detriment and humiliation. They did NOT see any victory come to pass.

One saw victory. The other did NOT see victory. This is the difference between "seeing is believing" and "believing is seeing."

Let me give you another example. Turn in your Bibles to Mark 5:35-42.

There were two sets of people in this story. Those who adhered to “seeing is believing” and those who adhered to “believing is seeing.” The ones who adhered to “seeing is believing” were stuck with a dead child on their hands and very deep sorrow. The ones who adhered to “seeing is believing” came out with a live, healthy child, great joy and overcoming victory!

Do you see the importance of ditching “seeing is believing” and grabbing a hold of “believing is seeing?” Remember our verse from 1 John 5:4 “And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith!”

So, back to our question. How do we move from “seeing is believing” to “believing is seeing?” MIND RENEWAL!!!

Let’s turn in our Bibles to Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

That’s in the KJV. In the GNT it says, “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.”

Paul was writing to the church in Rome. So, it is possible to be saved, to be in church, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and yet need to have your mind renewed and transformed so that you can actually fulfill the good and acceptable and even perfect will of God.

Know what that means? That means that no matter how much Holy Ghost you have, if you don’t get your mind renewed to begin to think according to God’s will and His word, you will never walk in the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Your life will always be off kilter in some way, never actually fulfilling the true will of God for your life.

Are you starting to see how important mind renewal is??

And!! NEWS FLASH. This is YOUR responsibility! God is not going to hit you over the head with a Bible sledge hammer and make you think according to the Word of God! LOL. It doesn’t work that way. We have to take responsibility to take the time out of our days on a regular basis, and renew our minds with the Word of God. Replacing our thoughts with God’s thoughts on everyday things.

So, for instance…say you’re not feeling well. The Bible doesn’t say to give in to sickness, even though that is the natural response. The Bible says in Joel 3:10 to “let the weak say I am strong.” So, instead of saying, “I feel so bad today!” You replace that with “I am strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Greater is He that’s in me than he that is in the world. I am an overcomer, and God heals all my diseases. So sickness has no place in me!”

Now you might say, “Well that’s just lying, Marcia, because clearly, I am sick. That is evident in my body.” But you are never lying when you are quoting God. It is impossible for God to lie.

Jesus said, “I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life.” (John 14:6) Jesus is the truth that overcomes the facts. You’re not lying when you state the truth that can and does overcome the facts. If you stay on the truth long enough, it will turn the facts around to line up with the truth.

How else do you think David beat Goliath? How else do you think Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead? It was clearly evident that by all medical indicators, that girl was dead. Coroner dead. Death certificate dead. But Jesus SAID, “She is NOT dead. She is only sleeping.” And the truth that came out of Jesus’ mouth overcame the facts that presented themselves to the people. And that girl came back to life. That is called not being moved by what you see.

Jesus was NOT MOVED BY WHAT HE SAW. Jesus was only moved by what the Father had clearly told Him…that she was NOT DEAD, but that she was only sleeping.

Somebody needs to give God praise. Because God has called for a different verdict than what the medical indicators are saying. God has called for a different verdict than what the medical professionals are saying. God has called for a different verdict than what the lawyers are telling you. For we walk BY FAITH and NOT BY SIGHT!! (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Isaiah said “Who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1) Only those who believe the report of the Lord get to see His mighty arm revealed in their situations. We must not be moved by what we see!! We must learn to overcome unbelief!

This means paying more attention to what God says than to what the devil says. This means paying more attention to what God says than to what you see in front of your face. This means repeating God’s words about your situation, even though your situation looks NOTHING like what God has said.

It’s called fighting the good fight of faith. It’s called laying hold on eternal life (1 Timothy 6:12). It’s called taking it by force.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:12 “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” This means that you don’t just EASE up into what God promised. You have to go for it!! Like we said two weeks ago, you have to RUN TO WIN!! And that means renewing your mind so that you are not moved by what you see.

Now, understand that this doesn’t just happen by chance or by osmosis. That happens by practice. That happens by deliberately going to the Word of God on a regular basis, and purposely focusing on what God says instead of focusing on what you see.

Psalm 119:9-11 says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

I really like these verses. Let’s take a look at them. First, the psalmist realizes that his way needs to be cleansed. That’s half the battle right there! Recognizing that you need a change. Recognizing that you’re not all perfect, recognizing that you could use some improvement at the hands of God.

And then he gives the solution to his issue: taking heed to the Word of God. I don’t know about you, but for me, it was a very great comfort for me to realize that everything in me that needed to be fixed could be fixed with the Word of God. That no matter how messed up I was, I could find the solution for each and every issue I had in the Word of God. It was like, I have hit the jackpot!! Let me just stay in this Word, and I’m really gonna be okay!!

And let me just encourage you. No matter WHAT situation you may be facing. No matter what issues in your life need to be fixed, what issues in your marriage need to be fixed…No matter what issues in your career need to be fixed…Your answer is in the Word of God.

The plan for your life is in the Word of God. The way that God wants you to live, what you are supposed to have, how you are to respond to the different situations that life brings, they are all contained in the Word of God. And one of the greatest things you can do in life is grab a hold of what the Bible says, BELIEVE it, and LIVE IT OUT.

Our theme text says, “For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”

Now, one of the challenges that will invariably present itself is the challenge of holding ON to your faith. Being faithful to the END. Trusting God just as firmly down the road as we did when we first believed.

So, when God gives you a promise, when you first get it, you receive it with joy! You’re so excited! You can hardly wait for it to come to pass and you are EXPECTING!! But then, when after a few days, or a few weeks, or a few months, or maybe even after a few years, you still haven’t seen it come to pass, it becomes more and more challenging to hang on to that joy and expectation you had when you first believed, or when God first gave you the promise.

This is where you need faith building strategies, to overcome unbelief, so that you can trust God just as firmly in the waiting as you did when you first believed.

1. Rehearse what God said. What did God say in the first place? Is there scripture to back up what He said? Are you certain God said it, and it wasn’t just you putting words in God’s mouth? Do you have that inner witness from the Lord that it was certainly from Him when you approach Him about it in prayer? And if you go through that cross examination, and you find that it was indeed God, then REHEARSE WHAT GOD HAS SAID.

2. Resist the temptation to doubt. Resist the temptation to quit. 1 Cor. 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

Overcoming unbelief involves

1. Not being moved by what you see,

2. Adopting a “Believing is seeing” way of life

3. Fighting the good fight of faith

4. Renewing your mind with the Word of God

5. Rehearsing what God has said

6. Resisting the temptation to doubt God

These are all great strategies to overcome unbelief! Use them this week! And let me know how it goes! I look forward to hearing praise reports and victory reports from all over!!