Proof

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

      For the most part, we are a people who want to see proof of something before we buy into it.  One of our states, Missouri, has the motto which has the thought, "Show me."  We are a skeptical people and are not easily taken in by the claims of people just based upon their words.  Sure, there is always a gullible person around who will fall for almost anything, but generally speaking, we want to see some hard evidence.  But, faith is not that way.  Faith is something that you can't always see right in front of you.  That is why it is called faith.  In the Old Testament, Israel had been challenged to go in and possess the land.  However, after they spied it out, they said that they couldn't do it.  God then reminded them that if they had gone in, He would have given them the land.  So, now, they had proof that God was on their side and so they decided to go in.  It was after the fact.  But, now the tables were turned.  Deuteronomy 1:41-42 says, "Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the Lord, we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.  And the Lord said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies."   They still wanted to give it a try.  Perhaps God would change His mind after He saw the people going in to possess the land.  That was not to be.  Instead, they were driven back and ended up roaming in the wilderness for 40 years or until that generation died off.  They had refused to accept what God had told them.  Sound familiar?  How often do we refuse to accept what God promises because it just doesn't sound logical.  Instead, we try to creep out on our thin faith as we test the water while still holding on to our worldly possessions.  How is your faith today?  There used to be a little pin that had a short saying on it which may have been a little too brief, but it said, "Let Go and Let God."  The Israelites still saw the melons and cucumbers in Egypt instead of the milk and honey in the land they were to possess.  Praise God for His help and guidance, even in days of trouble.