One Sunday afternoon, I was watching Kenneth Copeland. He
was preaching on faith and said something that changed my life. I have made a
quality decision in my life. I believe that God is faithful. I believe that
His word has power and authority. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God. I believe that I have been made the righteousness of God. And Devil, you
can take your doubt and go to hell because I have made a quality decision
before the throne of God.
I never thought of deciding to have faith. That
afternoon the Lord revealed that I had been so wrapped up in trying to
overcome doubt instead of deciding to believe. I have the right to believe in
God, doubt or no doubt. Excitement began to well up within.
I ran down into the basement, planted my feet firmly on the
ground, and stubbornly proclaimed, Before the throne of God, His angels and
all the principalities of darkness, I make a quality decision. I don’t care
if I doubt. I am going to believe that Jesus Christ is the living God with
every breath that I take, every thought that I think, for the rest of my life!
A huge weight had been lifted from my heart. Every time I
had a thought that God was a big illusion, I would stop and say, Now wait a
minute, I made a quality decision. Even when I had no faith to overcome
the unbelief that raged within, I gritted my teeth and stood on the decision.
An amazing thing started to happen. God honored that
decision by beginning to give me victory over doubt and unbelief. What He
wanted from me was my heart-decision to believe in Him.
You have spiritual authority. You have the right to stand
in faith. Make a decision! Don’t wait until all the doubt, unbelief and
unanswered questions have been taken care of before you decide to put your
trust in Him. That is not real faith anyway. Real faith is when your mind is
raging with doubt, screaming with fear, the circumstances look hopeless and
you feel like garbage—Satan looks fifty feet tall, you feel two inches tall
and God feels a million miles away. But you, oh Warrior of God, with wobbly
legs, stand up and whisper with a raspy voice, I have made a quality
decision to put my faith in God. That's faith! A scene which is played out
over and over again all through the Old and New Testament. Men and women,
standing before impossible odds, feeling useless, overwhelmed with
hopelessness, yet unwavering in their faith.
Often David would go through major bouts of depression. He
spent years hiding in caves and holes in the ground after being anointed King
of Israel. We can just picture him during one of those cold lonely nights in a
cave trying to pray, feeling that God had forgotten him, wrestling with his
thoughts, a heart filled with sorrow. He could feel death creeping into his
soul. In spite of his great depression and suffering, he proclaims, But I
trust in your unfailing love.
David had made a quality decision in his life. A decision
that would stand solid against the fiery darts that Satan could throw at him.
And God called him a man after My own heart.
Don’t run away from doubt, fear and unbelief. Face them
head on with confidence that God will honor your quality decision.