City Life Starter

By Heather Mattingly

The WORD:

Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Jeremiah 29:13
“you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

This past week, City Life Church heard from an incredible panel about science and God.
God gave us our brains, and He wants us to use them to search Him out. And He assures us in His Word that, “you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jer 29:13). If you search for Him, He will reveal Himself to you. But you have to seek Him out yourself (not rely on someone else’s study and revelation). Our Father wants to reveal Himself to you; isn’t that amazing?

Today, I’d like to share a story that greatly impacted my own faith, and reconciled my faith with my brain. Years ago I was at a crossroads about the Bible: so much of it just didn’t make sense to me. How could I know and believe this Book to be true when my mind was reeling with questions? I read books, talked to others, and studied on my
own…..and I only seemed to have more and more questions and grow more and more despondent. All the logic had me spinning in even more circles. How to believe what I couldn’t understand? Yes, God answered questions, but then more questions would emerge, and I would follow those…the cycle was never-ending, and I was exhausted.

And then, by God’s grace, I came across this story about the great evangelist, Billy Graham. He came to this same crossroad in his own life in 1949, when he was in his early thirties, President of Northwestern Schools in Minneapolis, and just starting to preach around the country. Billy Graham’s autobiography, “Just As I Am,” tells this
story this way:

As president of Northwestern Schools, Mr. Graham was invited to speak at the College Briefing Conference, which was held at Forest Home, a retreat center east of Los Angeles. Also speaking was his good friend and fellow evangelist Chuck Templeton, whose views on the authority of Scripture were quickly changing. Not for the first time, Templeton challenged Mr. Graham, saying, “Billy, you’re 50 years out of date. People no longer accept the Bible as being inspired the way you do. Your faith is too simple.”

Alone in his room that night, Mr. Graham studied the Scriptures intensely. And one phrase kept popping up, “Thus sayeth the Lord…..Thus sayeth the Lord……” He wrote that “I had no doubt concerning the deity of Jesus Christ or the validity of the Gospel, but was the Bible completely true? With the Los Angeles Campaign galloping toward me, I had to have an answer. If I could not trust the Bible, I could not go on. I would have to quit the school presidency. I would have to leave pulpit evangelism.”

Mr. Graham had no answers, and with a heavy heart, he went for a walk. It was the dead of night around the retreat center. Dropping to his knees there in the woods in front of a tree stump, Mr. Graham opened the Bible at random on that tree stump in front of him. He prayed, “O God! There are many things in this Book I do not understand…There are some areas in it that do not seem to correlate with modern science.” He paused, then continued to pray, “Father, I am going to accept this as Thy Word—by faith! I’m going to
allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word.”

When he stood up from his knees that August night, his eyes stung with tears. He wrote later, “I sensed the presence and power of God as I had not sensed it in months. Not all my questions were answered, but … a major bridge had been crossed. I knew a spiritual battle in my soul had been fought and won.” This battle did not go unnoticed. Friends, family, and colleagues noticed that Billy Graham preached with a power and authority that had not been evident before.

After reading this story I thought, “My goodness! If Billy Graham had to come to a crisis-point like this and make a choice, how much more do I?” I followed his example and made the same declaration during prayer very soon after reading this story. The Lord didn’t answer this prayer in one magic moment, but I can assure you that He has
answered it in His own time beyond what I thought possible.

Faith is a choice. It will always be a choice. But God will show you the evidence you need – the evidence of the unseen (Heb. 11:1) – the evidence of Himself – to help you make the choice for Him. Are you willing to keep seeking after Him for that evidence you yearn for? And when you come to this crossroad, or the “Tree Stump” in your own life, you will be ready. God will see you through. He is faithful.

Prayer:

“Father, thank You for my brain. You have gifted me with it, and I want to use it for Your glory. Help me to seek hard after You. Holy Spirit, give me a deep, deep hunger for You and Your Word. By faith, I believe every Word You say. Please increase my faith, and help me live out my faith in You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”