- Letters from Batsirai
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- Just Believe
Belief is a curious thing. I can stand and proclaim, “When I get home, I’ll have a fabulous chicken lunch. Yet, the truth is, I don’t know what the future holds. Now - I don’t know if I’ll make it home, change my mind, or if my wife will change it for me.
Despite that reality, I don’t say or even think, “I will have chicken for lunch at home IF I don’t get into an accident on the way home, etc.” No, I just say it. And boom—it happens.
The future remains uncertain from this very second onward. There’s a likelihood but no certainty. Yet, still, I can confidently declare it.
It’s easy to make bold declarations regarding trivial matters like Sunday lunch. We have seen it work out before.
We get on big metal tubes that fly through the air—even fall asleep on them—with no thought or understanding of how it all works. We believe because we have seen it work out.
“Jesus responded, “Thomas, now that you’ve seen me, you believe. But there are those who have never seen me with their eyes but have believed in me with their hearts, and they will be blessed even more!”
But with things that truly matter—things that can significantly impact our lives—we hesitate, hedge and qualify our statements. We say to ourselves and others (or at the very least think), “If I pray and believe, I MIGHT get healed”, “IF He wills it, I MIGHT get this job IF that’s His plan for my life,” or “I MIGHT become a successful businessman IF I work hard and everything aligns, and that’s what He wants for me.”
We add conditions: We qualify these important beliefs because, deep down, we doubt them. We don’t believe it because we haven’t seen it yet.
Yet whether something matters greatly or not at all, the reality is we don’t know what the future holds. “I’m having chicken for lunch” is the cosmic equivalent of “I will make a million dollars a month,” which is the equivalent of “Mountain be moved into the sea.”
They are each declaring a future state. There are infinite reasons why they might not happen. Yet the one that happens more often is the one I also happen to believe the most.
The only one that seems to work reliably is “I have chicken for lunch” - it's also the only one I truly believe. My belief is so strong that it's almost the equivalent of certainty. Hmm. Maybe there is something to that.
“He told them, “It was because of your lack of faith. I promise you, if you have faith inside of you no bigger than the size of a small mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move away from here and go over there,’ and you will see it move! There is nothing you couldn’t do!”
So why not boldly declare the future you want to see? We should declare it with the same confidence and boldness as we declare our lunch plans. Declare it daily, like lunch.
Who knows! Maybe Jesus was on to something.
What are you hoping to do? Why not declare it? We don't understand how it all works, but what if what Jesus said is true?
“Jesus said to them, “Throw your net over the starboard side, and you’ll catch some!” And so they did as he said, and they caught so many fish they couldn’t even pull in the net!”
We like to focus on what the disciples did. But before that, it's what He said/declared mattered. “…and you’ll catch some”
Till next time.
Batsirai
Significantly inspired by Myron Golden: https://youtube.com/shorts/v2034FF8Clo?si=5h7yY-j0uD-4j7JU
Flight is booked to Dallas.
Love to see you there. Let me know!
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