"It (love) always
trusts, always hopes....." I Corinthians 13:7
I wouldn't be a Christian
for nearly 60 years if I hadn't learned to always give God the benefit of the
doubt and to remain hopeful in the face of discouragement. I am thankful I
learned early in life that when I wave the will God makes the way!
When I always want to
trust and always want to hope, God enables me through His Spirit to do those
things.
One of my inspirations in
this effort is Noah! Here's his story as recorded in Hebrews 11 - the Hall of
Faith:
"By faith Noah, when
warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save
his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the
righteousness that is in keeping with faith." Hebrews 11:7
Here's the short on the
story of Noah, he repeatedly (120 years?) gave God the benefit of the doubt and
continually hoped for the salvation of his family.
For the rest of the story,
Noah had several reasons to doubt! Let us count the ways:
Noah had never seen
rain
He had no concept of a
flood
Noah had never built a
boat
Possibly he had never seen
a boat
BUT, Noah gave God the
benefit of the doubt at every point every day!
Imagine every day for over
a century Noah arose and went to work building something he had never built to
prepare for something he knew nothing about! He had to cut the trees, drag the
logs back to his place, mill the lumber from the wood, make the nails, make the
pitch for sealing the cracks, build the tools, and endure the ridicule of his
neighbors the whole time he labored on the ark!
No wonder Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord!
No doubt, Noah found hope in the promise God had
given him for the saving of his family!
The more you give God the benefit of the doubt
the fewer doubts you will have and the more hope you will experience.
I think you can confidently say that Noah always
trusted and always hoped. Therefore it is safe to say Noah loved God!
Will you love God today?
If you want to love Him and experience His love
then give Him the benefit of the doubt at the very point where you are tempted
to doubt!
As you do that you will find yourself being
filled by God's hope and love!
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