Unshackled Echo ~ June 5, 2019 ~ Budding Belief

Belief can be a bit tricky. We know that we need to believe in the truth of God's word, especially as it relates to what we are going through and the hope we have of things getting better, of our deliverance, healing and restoration. Then when we struggle with doubt and ability to trust we condemn ourselves for lack of belief. We then begin a battle of and for belief, attempting to bolster belief before we move on. We act as though we must fully feel confident in what we claim to believe before we can progress. But there are different types or levels of belief.

Yes, there is a level of belief that comes from experience that is indeed a full unquenchable assurance. I believe in gravity. I am firmly convinced that if I were to climb up on the roof and step off that I would immediately fall to the ground below. In fact, that law is so factual that it doesn't matter if I believe in gravity. No matter how convinced I may be that I have discovered the secret of flight I will fall.

Then there is the type of belief that comes into play with things such as swimming or riding a bike. There are physical laws as factual, real and true as gravity that enable people to swim and ride. The laws don't change regardless of our belief or disbelief, but our ability to utilize them does. It might  be difficult to remember our thoughts and feelings before learning to swim or ride. But basically no one of us suddenly came to a full confidence that we could do such a thing and then did it. First someone told us that it was possible, and we saw others doing it. Understanding somehow that we are not terminally unique, something within us believed that if others could do these things we could as well.

But even that is not enough. After that came action. We acted on our belief that there was some truth, even if we didn't understand it, that made it possible to stay on the surface of water and keep upright and balanced on a bike. We probably had a mentor or teacher, someone we trusted who helped us and took us through the beginning learning stages. We may have had some help by way of flotation devices and training wheels. At some point though the helper, while perhaps still near, is hands off and the extra devices are taken off and removed. The time came, and we acted out on our belief that didn't have any confidence in experience or feeling. We hadn't felt the magic of balance or the surge of victory at swimming a few yards yet. In fact, we may have felt as though we would surely drown or fall. But we knew. We believed.

And chances are we struggled, went under some, fell from the bike, scraping skin and making bruises. It wasn't instant, but there was an almost got it feeling that made us keep going. We believed. One day though, we believed with the same assurance that we believe we can fall from a roof, because something finally clicked and success in that area was attained. We had learned to walk in the truth of those physics that we didn't understand. First we believed because something recognized truth, even though it had no basis in feeling or experience. Only after we went ahead and acted on that fragile belief did we learn how to do those things and gain that surety that couldn't be shaken by doubt.

The spiritual laws and truths of God are as real and dependable as gravity, but they are closer in property to the laws that govern being able to swim or ride a bike. There are trusted sources that declare these laws to be true and present in our lives. We can observe others walking in them and the effects of them on the lives of others. We can get help from others. But we'll never learn the same assurance that His hands will keep us from falling as gravity will make us fall until we take a deep breath and, full of uncertainty, fall into His hands.

We must grow and develop assurance that is based on belief. We do that by acting as though what the Word says and what we have seen is true about God. We move forward as though we can swim in the waters of His truth and ride without falling by grace, no matter what we have or have not experienced or what we feel. The assurance comes from experience. The experience comes from stepping out and walking in the truth we believe but may not feel. If we wait for the assurance to act on belief we will never gain that assurance or learn how to walk with God.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

June 5, 2016.

This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.