When You Really Know God

One of my deep desires is to be a good ambassador for Jesus. Many Christians go head-to-head with nonbelievers, determined to win the argument. That is not my desire.

I don’t want to win arguments, or point out someone’s faults, or make them feel less than deeply valued and loved. Instead, I want to be persuasive. There are so many wonderful reasons to know God. That’s what I want people to know.

So, I’ve been reading a book by Os Guiness called, “Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion.”

He ministers to my soul, because I’m so in agreement with him….let’s not win arguments, let’s win hearts and minds in drawing people to Jesus.

I have a fascinating excerpt I want to share with you today.

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Harriet is on trial for murdering her husband with poison, though she is innocent. Harriet is also a mystery writer and had been researching information about poison at the very time that her husband died of arsenic (a deadly poison). Further, Harriet had reason to kill him, and there were no other suspects.

All the known facts of the case were against her.

A friend of Harriet’s believed she was innocent and was being framed. He was sure that the police had jumped to the wrong conclusion, and did not investigate fully. They quit too soon.

He told the jury, “I have one big advantage over the rest of you…I know Harriet. There must be evidence somewhere to point to the real killer.”

How similar this is regarding God. People look at life’s hardships, and jump to conclusions about God that are not accurate, and they blame God.

However, there are others listed in Hebrews 11, who have viewed their life’s troubling events differently because they knew God.

Speaking of those in Hebrews 11–Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses–“all these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance.” v 13

They knew God is there and that God is good. Knowing why they trusted God, they knew the known facts were never all the facts. So even when the known facts were against God, they trusted and they waited, they waited and they worked. In this way they called into question the ways of the world of their time and challenged even the impossible.

The conclusion of the writer to the Hebrews…such faith was the very reason God was not ashamed to be their God.

Their lesson is a challenge to us: time after time the known facts of our lives and of the world may be against God, but one day all the missing facts will be known. So our task as his people is to trust and prove him now, in the meantime, whatever the odds, whatever the opposition and however agonizing the suffering at the present moment.

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How important it is to know WHY we trust God. Our faith is as solid as our reasons.
There are things you personally know about God that nonbelievers don’t know. Be ready to share it with them.

It’s not an easy assignment, but an important one. Always be prepared to explain the hope that is in you. (1Peter 3:15).