Disputing His Word

I remember times I tried to argue with my mother when I was a child and she would say, “Are you disputing my word? Are you calling me a liar?” Her word was the final authority and what Mama said went.

There’s a lot of talk about faith these days. Discussions abound on what faith is, drawing on the famous Bible definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1, which says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence  of things not seen.”

Consider the woman mentioned in Hebrews 11, Sarah, wife of Abraham, mother of the Jewish race. The scriptures say she was given strength to conceive when barren and 90 years old because she considered Who had made the promise and determined Him to be true to His word.

She looked down one day at her 90-year-old body, which had been barren even when she was young, and she determined that it was impossible for her to have a baby. Then she looked up into the stars, and tried to number them, as God had told her husband. Then she considered the One who gave the promise—God Almighty, the Creator of the universe—and determined that He was reliable, trustworthy, faithful, and true to His word. Simply put, if God said it, He will do it, no matter how it looks on the surface.

She stopped doubting His word. That’s what faith is—not doubting, but believing everything God says. Anything less is sin, because it is the same as calling God a liar. “God is not a man that He should lie,” Num. 23:19.

If He has said He will do it, it will come to pass. There is no place for doubting or disputing His word. The Psalmist said, “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven,” Ps. 119:89.

Faith is simply taking God at His word.