What You Believe Matters

It's been more than 30 years since I heard a sermon illustration that I will never forget.

There was a man, explained the preacher, who was visiting northern Minnesota in the winter. As his cab driver took him from the airport to his destination, he noticed a man sitting in the middle of a frozen lake fishing. 

The man wondered out loud, “Is that safe?”

“Yes,” answered his driver, “Let me show you.”

His driver maneuvered the cab to the edge of the water. “Try it,” he said. “It’s perfectly safe.”

The man took a few nervous steps out on the ice and then quickly scampered back to shore. 

“Now,” said the preacher as his sermon illustration came to its point, “Who, may I ask, was safer? Was it the man who took just a few steps out onto the ice? Or the man who was in the middle of the ice enjoying a day of fishing?”

Think about it for a minute. Who do you think was safer? 

I will never forget the preacher’s answer to that question. 

“One man was no safer than the other,” he said. “They were equally as safe because the ice is the ice. The difference was their quality of life.”

Those words struck me with a power I can’t fully explain. 

The ice is the ice. It was going to hold them both up no matter what they were thinking.

One man knew for sure that the ice was solid and he could depend on it to hold him up. This man had no worries. The other man wasn’t so sure, so he was filled with fear.

Friends, we serve a God who is never going to fail us. We can depend on Him. He is faithful and He always will be.

The question is, do we really believe that? The answer to that question will determine the quality of our lives. Will we cower near the edge of the shore or live boldly because we know our God can be trusted? 

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10 NLT)

We are never alone. We are never separated from God’s loving care. He is always with us, and underneath are His everlasting arms.

God is faithful no matter what we believe but if we truly believe that God is faithful, it will have a dramatic effect on the way we live our lives.

Let’s pray.

Lord, help us to never forget who You are. Help us to rest in Your unfailing love and faithfulness. Show us if there is any area of our lives where we are not fully trusting in You. We want to live victoriously and accomplish all that You have called us to do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.