Slow to Believe

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:”

Luke 24:24–25

Perhaps the most famous of Aesop’s fables is the story of the boy who cried wolf. A bored shepherd boy learned that he could break up the monotony of his day by crying out that a wolf was after the sheep. The townspeople would rush from their homes to drive off the intruder and protect the flock, only to find that there was no wolf. In time they lost their confidence in the boy, and one day when a wolf really did come and he cried for help, no one responded. He had given people a reason to be slow to believe what he said.

The Word of God in contrast is completely faithful and reliable. Solomon said, “Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant” (1 Kings 8:56). Joshua, too, said, “…ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof” (Joshua 23:14). Yet despite a six thousand year track record of being completely trustworthy, we are often slow to believe that God will do what He has promised.

Our hesitancy to believe God reveals a lack of faith in our hearts. Too often, we are like the disciples in that we first fail to understand God’s promises and then are slow of heart to believe what God has spoken.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

Since God is always faithful to His promises, we should be quick to believe all that He says.