Every day of my life, I wrestle with bad thoughts. Various kinds, such as anxiety, negativity, judgement, perfectionism, the works. Recently, I caught myself thinking a bad thought and making an excuse not to debunk the thought. I told myself, “well, I could trust God with this thought if I knew him better, if I was older and had seen God work more in my life, if I only knew more Bible verses, obeyed all the laws, and checked off every box; then I would have the strength to deal with this thought. So, for now, it’s okay to believe this lie because I am not an adult yet.” Upon further inspection, I saw this pattern of excuses throughout my entire conscious. All of which was rooted in not having all the knowledge I needed to succeed, the need to be older, wiser, and closer to God. Of course, there is that verse in Timothy where Paul talks about how you shouldn’t let others (or yourself) look down on you because of age, but I won’t bring that up because like I said we all know it.  Instead, I would like to bring to the table the first chapter of Luke.

I could trust God and overcome this thought if I…

Alycia Dantier

Zacharias and Mary

 Luke 1 opens with elderly priest Zacharias receiving a message from the angel of the Lord, saying that Zacharias will have a son. In verse 18, this priest, this man who was found blameless and righteous in God’s eyes does not believe. He doubts the angel’s words and the angel muted Zacharias until the baby was born. On the other hand, in verse 38; we hear of how this teenage girl, Mary, trusts the angel Gabriel when he tells her she will get pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the son of God. Now, dear reader; which is more unbelievable; an old lady getting pregnant? Or a virgin carrying the son of God? The old lady thing, it has happened before. But an unmarried teen girl who has never been with a man suddenly becoming pregnant with God’s kid? Yeah, I can count how many times that has happened on one hand …one finger. Yet, the girl who had limited life experience, few Bible verses memorized, and only a trickle of a spring of knowledge about God (which comes with the limited life experience, or so I’ve been told), yeah, this girl is the one who fully trusts, totally believes, and humbly obeys when God promises her the unimaginable.

In comparison, a priest, a pastor of the people with decades of experience and a fount of knowledge about the Bible (well, scrolls back then) and God, he cannot even fathom his wife would have a child in her old age. Even with the story of Sarah, Abraham, and Isaac, he would not believe it. Zacharias knew all the rules, all the laws of God and followed them, yet all the rules on the planet don’t make up for trust in God, belief in his promises, and an obedient heart.

Nothing makes up for trust in God.

Alycia Dantier

Those who believe in God’s promises will receive God’s promises

There is something about the innocence of childhood, which God loves to work with. Adults have lived their lives and developed habits and ways of life that, to change would be like chiseling granite. It’s hard, but not impossible. In Luke 1:45, both Zacharias’ wife, Elizabeth, and Mary conceived because they believed. Another way to translate this is those who believe in God’s promises will receive God’s promises, no matter the background, age, or Bible verses memorized.  My point is, we do not need to be adults, know everything about God, his laws, or the history of the world to receive his blessings as vessels of the Lord; we need only to trust, believe, and humbly obey.

Those who believe in God’s promises will receive God’s promises.

Alycia Dantier

My challenge for you today is to ask God to give you the faith you need to choose to believe God’s promises, fighting whatever battle you are faced with and arising victorious over the forces of darkness. Without worrying about how little you know about the Bible or the world, allow God to be the fuel in your engine, the ink in your pen, the salsa in your taco, and the light in your heart that keeps the fires lit.