Someone
To Believe In You
by
Don Olsen
When all is said and done, one of the greatest
things in life is to have someone who really believes
in you. Believes in you through the thick and
thin, and the ups and downs of life. One who,
when others walk out, walks in.
In
Matthew 4 Jesus chooses his twelve disciples.
It amazes me…He didn’t go to the seminary
or the rabbi school. He doesn’t go to the
cream-of-the-crop. He goes down to the lake and
finds ordinary people, people like you and me.
The twelve that he chose to follow him failed
him over and over again. However, he never stopped
believing in them, encouraging them, and loving
them. His promise is that he believes in us in
the same way.
Let
me share three reasons why we are so important
to God.
First,
because of who we are.
In Genesis 1:27 it says that God created us in
his own image. In fact, we are so important to
Him that He will make commitments to us such as
the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 41:10.
“So
do not fear; for I am with you; do not be dismayed,
for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help
you; I will uphold you with my righteous right
hand.”
Secondly,
we are important to God because of what we cost.
Jesus Christ, God’s Son, gave up his life
for us on Calvary. What we cost makes us important
to God. The cost couldn’t be much more clear
than it is in Romans 5:8.
“But
God demonstrates His own love for us in this:
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
And
then the third reason we are important
to God is because of what we can become.
We are important to God because of His power to
change us and make us today what we weren’t
yesterday, and to make us tomorrow what we are
not today. Acts 1:8 is a powerful demonstration
of this:
“But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and in Samaria and to the ends
of the earth.”
He
could look those men right in the eye, those men
who were so ordinary, and at times had floundered
and failed so miserably, and He could see them
as a dynamic force in the early church. He saw
what they could become.
When
we begin to truly understand how much God believes
in us, it gives us hope. Divers who were on a
rescue team, reached a sunken vessel. They were
eager to discover any evidence of survivors who
might still be breathing from on air bubble of
air at the bottom of the sea. As they tried to
gain access to this underwater prison, one diver
heard a strange noise and summoned the others
to pay attention. Fortunately, the divers knew
enough Morse code to decipher the message which
was being tapped out from the hopeless dungeon.
Someone
was tapping out a frantic message … “Is
there any hope?”
The
answer to that question tends to frame what one
thinks, believes, and does. Without hope, systems
begin to shut down and bizarre, mindless and heartless
responses overpower all else. If, on the other
hand, there is even the slightest ray of hope…life,
energy, and possibilities begin to shape the reality.
When
we begin to embrace the truth that God believes
in us, and that Jesus died for us and can forgive
and change us, it gives us life-transforming hope.
Read
the life stories
of men and women in Kamloops who have found hope.
Are
you interested in learning more about God and
finding hope in your own life? Click
here.
Speak
to Don Olsen at the Kamloops Alliance Church personally
by phone at 250-376-6268 or by email at alliance@kamloops.net
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