Deception and broken promises are all too common to us. We were deceived by the first lie told by the serpent, and henceforth by fellow humans. Oxford Dictionaries declared 'post-truth' as the word of the year 2016. We've been duped by so much fake news, manipulated by micro-targeting, misguided by algorithms that govern our search engine rankings, and lost trust in any establishment that purports to tell the truth. If we could be so manipulated, how do we trust the facts presented to us? how could we trust our experiences? how could we trust reason? When we think deeply about these questions, we wonder even if reality exists, or if truth exists. So much so that we have lost the ability to trust. Thus, in our weak moments, when we are asked to have faith - the confidence of what we hope for, and the assurance about what we do not see, we ask, 'but how can I know?'.
If you are struggling with this question in your faith life, don't be discouraged! Abraham, known as the Father of faith is the first to have asked this question to God, (when he was known as Abram). It is interesting that prior to the question, Bible declares that Abram believed God and God credited it to him as righteousness. Let us read.
Genesis 15: 5-10, 17-21 He (God) took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
When we in humility bring our doubts, our inability to know and trust to God, He is compassionate. God gives a two-fold answer. A miraculous sign of the appearance of a smoking firepot and a blazing torch; and makes a blood covenant the seal of a promise. God swore by His own name that He will fulfill it. A blood covenant communicated a self-maledictory oath. The parties involved would walk the path between the slaughtered animals so to say, “May this be done to me if I do not keep my oath” [link]. What more could he have asked?
In Isaiah 7: 11 God tells King Ahaz, “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” Signs are common in the Bible. The rainbow was a sign of God’s promise not to destroy the world by flood again. The blood of the Passover lamb was a sign to Israel that God would exempt Israel from the death of the firstborn. The angelic fire was a sign to Gideon that he had found favor with the Lord. In the New Testament, the miracles of Jesus are often called signs, particularly in the Gospel of John (John 2:11, 23; 3:2; 4:54; 6:2, 14; 7:31; 9:16; 11:47; 12:18, 37; 20:30) [link]. God has always provided signs to help his people believe. We need only believe after we have received the sign.
However, if we focus too much on the signs, if we are hard at heart, or ask in the attitude of tempting or testing God, the sign we ask in itself becomes our stumbling block, as it did for the Jews. Have you wondered what sign God has given you pertaining to your salvation?
Ephesians 1:13, 14 And in Him (Christ), having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.
The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is what gives us the assurance.
Link to the previous article: How long, Lord, how long?
Link to the next article: How can we know the way?
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