These days it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. We’ve been fed so many fake facts, we’re not sure what to believe. Measuring the pros and cons of a decision you have to make causes your head to spin. You were once taught to be polite. You knew sharing was better than keeping all your toys to yourself. You learned to be thoughtful and kind, compassionate and considerate. You may have even learned the fact that God exists and He’s still in the world today.
What then are the facts, those things you can trust, those things that make a difference?
You may remember the Bible story of Abraham and Sarah. They were people who had come to know and trust God with everything in this life that matters. They did, until the day they didn’t. One of their unanswered prayers was to have a baby. They prayed for that baby back when they were young. They prayed for that baby when they were older and it appeared that their chances were somewhat slim. Finally, they stopped praying for that baby because they were just too old physically for that to happen. After all, Abraham was about a hundred years old, and Sarah was close to ninety. They were old, but that didn’t make God’s promise to them impossible. It just made God’s answer something that couldn’t have happened according to human understanding. It just meant they had to believe that the only fact that was now relevant was this. God exists. Only God could cause the facts to change. Only God could expand the limits of human biology and time.
Even Abraham and Sarah were amazed when God said they’d have a baby. Sarah laughed at the thought and God reprimanded her a bit. So maybe the thing to consider is this. Facts don’t lie, but they don’t necessarily tell the whole story. The Creator of all things is a variable that can come into play at any moment. He can open doors of possibility at any time and make all things new again. I’m not suggesting here that any of us disregard the facts that are put before us, but what we might do is take those facts and put them at God’s feet in prayer. Only there can we know what the truth really is. Only there can we hope for change and opportunity to come.
You may remember that whenever Jesus was going to heal someone He would always ask, “Do you believe I can do this?” In other words, do you trust me, and do you trust in me? If so, then we can change your desires into facts. Only you can decide about things that present themselves as fact or fiction. Only you can determine your willingness to surrender your perception of truth so that you can open the way for God’s truth to prevail. Only you can answer the question, “Do you believe I can do this?”
The world does not have all the answers. God does. That’s a fact!