even in the waiting

“If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” (Luke 16:31)

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I spend too much time tapping my fingers on the table, waiting for God do a little magic trick and prove Himself to me.  Like, “I will believe You are truly loving when You _________” and “When You finally _________, then I will know that I can trust You.” But until then, I just can’t say for sure…

It seems I am not alone in demanding miraculous proof in order to believe.  I am part of a multitude who feels that if God will just show Himself in an obvious way, then our doubt will be removed… that if we can just have that one experience, it will change everything.  Yet experience itself teaches us otherwise.  Those moments can come powerfully and yet when they go, we are still left grasping at thin air.

The Pharisees are my forefathers in this.  With an abundance of miracles piling up all around them, they demanded more.  Jesus spoke with prophetic precision when He said, “They will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

So what is the solution? Jesus pointed to the Word.  He said that they must first listen to Moses and the Prophets.  They could have all the proof in the world right in front of their eyes, but if they did not open their ears to hear the truth of the Scriptures about Jesus, then all would be in vain.

I hear Jesus speaking the same thing to my heart today.  He tells me to listen. To trust in the Word, in what it says about Him and what His life tells us about God. To trust in the promises of His love, in the guarantee that such trust is not misplaced.  Even though my eyes may not see a thing, I need to open my ears to hear:

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
(Exodus 34:5) 

“You are precious in My sight and honored, and I love you.”
(Isaiah 43:4) 

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.”
(Jeremiah 31:3) 

“God proves His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Romans 5:8) 

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
(1 John 3:1)

These are words I can put my trust in.  These are the proofs I need of God’s love.  Jesus is proof that God does show up and does come through for us.

Painting by James Tissot

So does God show up in miraculous ways?  Absolutely.  Is it worth waiting for those powerful moments?  Definitely.  But in the meantime, don’t take the absence of God or the presence of suffering as proof against God’s unconditional love.  You can still put your trust in God even in the waiting.

God will come through.  But maybe we spend too much time looking around for those moments, thinking we need them in order to rest in God’s love, expecting them to prop up our faith.  But “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).  We can rest in His love now, no matter what do or don’t see.

So instead of looking around, maybe try this: close your eyes… and listen.