“If you imagine a weightlifter straining to lift a barbell loaded with heavy weights, you might imagine stress on one side of the bar and anxiety on the other. Those are the primary weights that are so heavy — but unbelief is the bar they’re attached to.”- Kyle Idleman
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”- Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)
Kyle Idleman concludes Chapter 7 of Don’t Give Up as he asserts that everyother sin is rooted in unbelief. Therefore, Pastor Idleman defines unbelief as an uncertainty in what God has said and a skepticism about what we do not see. In addition, Kyle offers several contrasts between faith and unbelief:
- Faith shows confidence in God’s trustworthiness; unbelief doubts God’s intentions and integrity.
- Faith believes God weeps with us; unbelief views God as ambivalent, with no concern about our hurts.
- Faith believes God numbers every hair on our heads; unbelief decides God has not interest in knowing us.
Furthermore, when our guilt turns to shame, our sin defines our identity. As a result, when we start to define ourselves by our sin, that sin feels like a permanently attached weight. Hence, a weight that will always imprison us.
Consequently, Kyle closes the chapter with these words of hope:
“Once there were terrible word to describe who you were: cheater, dropout, fired employee, inattentive parent, squanderer of ambitions. Those words are empty in your case now; void, N/A. You are now a new creation in Christ. . . . Next time you feel caught in the web, realize you don’t need to be there. Jesus, the great untangler, came to set you free. Don’t give up.”
Today’s question: In your life, how do stress and anxiety function as the primary heavy weights on the bar of unbelief? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “When the future’s a fuzzy blob”
