The Lord visited Abraham when Abraham was nearing 100 years old and Abe's wife, Sarah, was about 90, to tell them that "I will surely return to you about this time next year and Sarah your wife shall have a son." (Genesis 18:10)
Sarah is standing in the door of the tent and she laughs, thinking I'm so old and my husband is so old, and I've wanted a child for so long and now, NOW, he tells me I'm going to have a child. I can see her standing there kind of shaking her head in disbelief. And of course she thought she was unseen and unheard. But the Lord new what she was thinking and confronted Abraham about it saying, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:13-14) Sarah tried to deny it, saying wasn't me - I didn't laugh. But the Lord said oh, yes you did!
How many times have I done that? Committed some sin and then tried to deny it or rationalize it. Or what about unbelief? Denying God's ability to do what He says He will do. The Bible is full of promises that God will fulfill on my behalf if I will not deny his willingness and ability to fulfill it.
We would never come right out and admit that we don't believe God but we show it to Him by the attitude of our hearts, the fear and worry in our lives, our unwillingness to do our part of God's "if, then" promises. One of my favorites is in the Sermon on the Mount - Matthew 6:25-33. This story ends with [If you] seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, [then] all these things will be added to you."
It's not always easy to believe God because we don't know what will happen tomorrow. But we must believe that God will not allow anything in our lives that is outside His purpose and is always used by God for our good. We are refined by trials. Trials hurt but the end product is spectacular! (1Peter 1:6-9)
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