The Unstoppable-Irresistible Power of Believe
I am reminded almost daily of the staggering power of "believe" in the life of a human being. For the most part, it goes unbridled and runs rampant in each of us. We allow it to do so because we have very little insight into the purpose and influence of this amazing power. Most of us mistakenly tuck it together with a cluster of emotions and feelings as though it belongs there. Others make it into a logical device and add it to their mental portfolio of learned and memorized things. In other words, it gets applied to "correct" and not to "truth." Either way, I have found that humans have this amazingly explosive bomb in their possession and they don't even know it.
I've watched folks go their entire lives with explosions in front of and behind them, to the left and to the right, causing unparalleled destruction to themselves and others around them. Oddly, they have no idea that these explosions were wired, set, charged and detonated by them. As a result, their relationships are crippled and their personal sanity is slipping. They become paranoid, insecure, suspicious, angry, disappointed, apprehensive and on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
All of this happens because of an undiscovered and unrestrained force within each of us that is not recognized and harnessed. We become like a two-year-old with a loaded shotgun, having absolutely no comprehension of what we are carrying. Ironically, we walk through life and shoot anything and everything in our path, including ourselves. Then we ask God to give us another box of shells.
I marvel at how flippantly some people ask God to strengthen their faith and give them more, and the moment they get their hands on a single drop of "believe," they use it to shoot themselves in the head again.
Life is about harnessing your "believe," understanding its power - channeling it and applying it to the right things.
We make lethal mistakes when we say things like, "I just don't believe in myself," as an excuse for our lack of self-confidence, or when we plead with God to give us more faith because the enemy is attacking and we need to stand strong. In fact, I think that some parents unintentionally and unknowingly launch deadly hand-grenades at their own children the moment they pray for them. I think that modern-day Christians are set in a pattern of behavior with their faith that will either leave them mentally deranged or dead. It is essential in this generation that we open our eyes and take personal responsibility for the power of our believe.
Generally speaking, most Christians don't pray because they "believe" in what they are praying for. The motivation behind most people's prayers is almost always their belief in the opposite of what they're praying for. Think about it. This is why mothers obsessively pray for protection over their children. They've put their "believe" in something bad happening to their child, so it terrifies them and compels them to pray.
My daughter Sidney was once sick for six straight months. I proceeded to pray ten times a day that God would block the enemy's attack on her. I anointed her head with oil each night. I put a Bible under her pillow. I even did a prayer walk around the property, claiming it for God. She got worse. After 24 weeks of middle-of-the-night trips to the hospital, three generations of humidifiers, and a gallon of Tylenol; I finally quit praying for her. She got better in about a day and has never been sick like that again.
About a year later, I discovered the truth of my heart during that time. I had taken all of my "believe" as her father and I put it in EVIL. I had more faith in the enemy's attack than I did in God's protection. My entire motivation was based on faith in the opposite of what I was praying for. That was my first lesson in the unstoppable, irresistible power of believe.
There is no such thing as a person who doesn't believe in themselves. We all believe in ourselves. The question is, what part of you are you putting your "believe" in? We have a portion of faith that God has given to each of us. Some people choose to believe good things about themselves and others apply their "believe" to negative things. Some people believe they will succeed and others believe they will fail. Some say they're beautiful and others call themselves ugly. Each person has the same amount of faith, and each person willingly choose to plug it into completely different things.
As beautiful as this gift of believe can be, it is also tricky and deceptive. Believe can be as much a blessing as a curse. Believe is the cause of the world's wars. It's the perpetrator behind suicide, divorce, child abuse and even murder. Things like depression, bipolar disorder, OCD, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, paranoid delusions and severe anxiety are all linked directly to the power of "believe."
While it is "believe" that takes a woman's breath away when she sees her husband walk into the room, it is also "believe" that justifies, motivates and inspires a terrorist to strap a bomb to his back and detonate it in a crowded cafe. While "believe" is responsible for taking a troubled, homeless child and lifting him up to positions of greatness in the world that he never imagined possible, "believe" is also responsible for Hitler's holocaust that nearly exterminated an entire race of people. The same "believe" that can open the doors of heaven, can also unlock the gates of hell.
Sadly, this generation has reduced this powerful gift into nothing more than a fleeting feeling. We've watered down its true meaning and have sidestepped our personal responsibility for the destruction it causes. Rather than embracing the significance of this truly awesome power and committing to identifying every area of our lives in which we misuse it, we pick and choose when we think it matters and when it doesn't.
It matters what you think of others. It matters if we believe that someone is evil at their core. It matters if we believe we are stupid. It matters if we believe our life is cursed. It matters if we think everyone is against us. It matters if we recruit others to believe against another human being. It matters if we believe that the Devil can hurt us. It matters if we believe that we're going to become financially devastated. It matters if we believe that we will make a fool of ourselves. It matters if you think you're overweight and unattractive. It matters if you think your opinion will be laughed at and trivialized by others. It matters if you think you have nothing valuable to offer. It matters if you think people are laughing at you behind your back. It matters if you believe that no one likes you. It matters if you feel you don't deserve to be blessed. It matters if you believe that God is angry with you. It matters if you believe you're forgiven for everything or not. It matters if you believe that God loves you.
These things all matter because not even God Himself can override us when we choose to place our believe in these things. He can do nothing but sit back and watch the destruction it causes. The very freedom that Christ purchased and provided for us cannot go into effect until our "believe" allows it to do so.
I think the average person doesn't even realize that many of their problems and hardships were caused by their faith. Most of us have never understood how much power it carries. I think if we all sat back and analyzed our lives closely we would come to the conclusion that misplaced faith is at the root of almost every issue in life.
When I was eighteen years old I had almost lost all of my hair. Needless to say, I was heart-broken. My mother took me to a Dermatologist who informed me that by the age of 21 I would be completely bald. Immediately I had visions of me being the silly looking bald man whom everyone laughed at and made fun of. I just knew for sure that no woman would ever marry me. The Dermatologist sat me down and told me that I had three options. He said I could wear a full wig, I could wear a baseball cap all the time or (and he looked deep into my eyes) he said, I could realize that I am the man, and my hair has nothing to do with anything. I chose the third option because I couldn't find a wig that would fit and I hate baseball. Choice number three was to not put "believe" in my appearance, but to place it in my heart.
It is not the things that happened to us in our past that dictates who we are today. It is what we believe about those things that dictates who we have become. We are all a product of what we have placed our "believe" in. Every one of us!
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Sherri, why don't you email me personally and we can sift through this question. darinhufford@cox.net Also if you leave your phone number I'll call you. That might be easier.
Ugh! I left my IC because of this teaching.....that everything that is wrong with my life is my fault. I honestly see the truth of it. But in areas where I don't believe correctly, how do I fix that. No has ever explained that to me. How does this apply to sickness. That's my struggle. I don't "believe" I should be sick, but when I am sick, I don't know how to stop being sick. I must "believe" I am sick to be sick, correct? Maybe I don't really get it. I believed this way for years and walked in a lot of positive benefits from it. I believe that God is on my side, that He loves me, that He has good things for me. Then I got a physical condition that I couldn't "believe" myself out of, and I have had confusion ever since. Helpful insight anyone?
I've lived both ways and you are so right Darren, it is a choice.We all have the power to do it. It's really simple but so many things can cover up the truth of it. Love reveals this truth to us. It's about believing in LOVE. Love is Truth.
Oh, and great blog. It never fails to amaze me what I "hear" people say regardless of the words that come out of their mouth because of what I believe OR vice versa. I am only too well becoming aware of what Paul meant about being the chief of sinners. I don't want the IC to preach an angry God, well first I need to not BELIEVE in a angry God. I want Christians to not be obsessed with rules, well first I should stop congratulating myself for the ones I keep :) Because regardless of what I say ("name it and claim it"), as you said our actions more acurately depict what we believe. And this is our children's inheritance.
Good decision by the way! A full wig would have just looked silly :)
Darin Hi' Myself i pray for all the children as well as my family evernight and day im been feeling anxitety the past 2 weeks. Why am I f eeling like this? i do believe in god very much.,i just had spine surgery it went very well. Do i feel bad about myself because i haven't been in the work force the last 3 years due to my back
Part of my journey has been to reinterpret many of the things I was taught in formal Church settings regarding choice and personal responsibility. Rather than wait on God for direction I've started to make positive choices about life decisions. Also, I know am recognising and shutting down destructive patterns of behaviour and thought as soon as they become apparent. I've found some of the aspects of cognitive behaviour therapy helpful. It is a strange paradox that the more responsibility that I take for my own actions, the more peaceful I am with my engagement with God and others. This flies in the fact of what I was taught, that we are not meant to be independent. I think it takes courage, perseverance and dogged persistence to take a more positive life direction. Thanks for the blog.
I see that some are struggling with the believe concept... I get it. Maybe some people really can just "decide to believe" at any given point... for me, I had to get out of some very negative and even abusive situations in my life before I could even see the nose in front of my face. For example I COULDN'T believe God loves me until I got out of IC. I COULDN'T believe disaster wasn't around every corner until I got away from some abusive family members. I still have aways to go on both counts. But at last, there has been a beginning of true belief in good things. Finally getting better :-) for what it's worth...
I think this post can be so easily misconstrued. To me, how can someone just believe "positively" about their life when they do not know any different experientially? Or another way of saying it, if I have not experienced Christs love for me how can I believe it? I can't just talk myself ino it. Belief is a result of what we experience. A child will not feel/believe/have faith in their parents love, if all they have experienced is abuse or neglect. My belief in Fathers love for me is directly proportional to the way he has revealed it to me in my heart. To me its about abiding in love, and growing naturally in the knowledge of it as Father causes us to grow. This is a controversial, thought provoking one, Darrin. Thankyou
I totally agree with you Darin. If someome has had a horrible past and they allow it to define who they become, they have chosen to believe it. My issue is when they are still angry about the hurt or "why did this have to happen to me" that it delays their healing. I am trying to find better ways to help them heal that hurt so that they can believe about themselves what God believes about them.
I have believed things about what I 'thought' people felt in regard to me. These thoughts were very destructive to me personally. Instead of clarifying situations (that I perceived as being against me) I just judged them as so. You can imagine what that did to my relationships w/ those people! I can think anything but until I ask I will never experience the freedom of believe. Even if someone lies to me or becomes angry at my question,I have taken responsibility for my belief. My trouble begins when I choose to be fearful and not ask the question. I think it is probably best to ask at the time of the 'event', but, is it ever too late to ask?
I have good days and bad days. I have days where I have my "believe" on. There are days I have my "believe" off...and there are days my "believe" is whacked. I call that being Human. In the end of it all and this is just me..it's where my Faith ends up that matters and for me..it always is this simple formula..trust God...clean house (mine)...love others. Knowing that...I have learned to RELAX...for me it is more important to have my "RELAX" on instead of always seeking some kind of sign to tell me I am doing good..or that I am OK...etc. In the church I was always frenzied about everything...it was like a to do list that never stopped. I "believe" that it is OK to be human as long as I "believe" that there is nothing that can separate me from the love of God. Get your "relax" on.
Excellent stuff, Darrin. Hits the mark. Worthy of further discussion because we do get it so mixed up. As peeps we seem to have this idea that we see everything as it is, instead of how we perceive it. I think it's kinda disorientating when you first start realising that your perceptions and beliefs cloud and limit the potentialities in front of you and what you actually see in front of you. But ultimately, I think it is totally liberating. 'Cause I reckon if we could see "ultimate reality" pure and undefiled as it really is (if there is such a thing), then we would be blown away by the beauty of everything. Great stuff, love your vision and your posts, Darrin. Sue http://discombobula.blogspot.com
I have nothing against New Age teachings if it produced what I'm looking for. I engaged in New Age thinking in the 70s, but abandoned it for Christ when I realized that all those books & meditationdid nothing for me. As for belief, I find that largely tied to experience. When I came to Christ I believed He Loved & Forgave me. I didn't expect God to give me tranquility and all kinds of goodies, but I was led to expect an occasional sense of His presence and some kind of comfort from Him while enduring life's trials. Unfortunately, experience dashed all that. Now I find that trying to believe in contrast to what I realize leads to the explosions your blog touched on. So I've backed off of this "live by faith & not by sight" stuff and simply try to be honest with were I'm at.
The problem with teachings such as "The Power of Positive Thinking" and "Creating your own destiny" is that Christians get hurt from them and then respond by throwing out every single principal associated with that teaching because we want to stay as far away from it as possible. The problem is that we also give up the true things that were associated with it. Peter, I think you did read into this because it reminded you of something that hurt you in the past. Buddha said the "Golden rule" before Christ did. That doesn't mean that Jesus was a Buddhist because he agreed with that principal. You're looking for the person of Jesus in your pain but you'll never find it unless you believe. As New age as that might sound; it's still true.
It was an attempt at humor, but in a way I'm serious. This doesn't sound any different to me then the so called "name-it-&-claim-it" found in some ICs. More than that, though, is the promise/blame taste of it. That is what truly bugs me about religion. Religion makes promises it can't keep, builds people up with invalid expectations, and then BLAMES the people themselves when it doesn't come true. If I'm to take this article as anything more than "creating your own reality" or "the power of positive thinking" there has to be something divine in it, and that is what I don't see. I just see people pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. I'm not looking for that -- I'm looking for the person of Jesus in the midst of my pain & despair.
Looks like someone miss-took this article as being the same as the "If you just believe you can have everything" teachings from the IC. It sounds like you're probably kidding Peter, but if not, you probably should reread this article. The typical hype-filled religious claim that we can have anything at all if we just believe is nowhere to be found here.
Darin, why didn't you just believe that you would have hair?
Darin, great post! In my mind, Believe is so important to understand. I love how you reiterated that CHOICE really has so much to do with how we live. When it all comes down to it, how we choose to respond to the thoughts and feelings that are inside, carries out how we not only live, but also in receiving Papa, Son and Holy Spirits Love and Grace. I am discovering the more I participate in, cooperate with and "dance" with Father, following the Son and listening and resting in the Holy Spirit, the more in harmony I feel my life is. Of course, this is a process, and I have a ways to go, but LIFE now is so much more peaceful and joy-filled. It's adventurous. Darin, Believe is such a crucial aspect to freedom. Well done here. http://amyiswalkinginthespirit.blogspot.com
Hello there. Okay, belief. It's seems there are two things I see here regarding belief and I believe it really comes down to our foundations. Going back to the parable of building your house on sand or a rock. For many years, my foundation or my belief in my salvation was built on a sandy foundation of fearing God, so my mind was set up to always be in fear of bad things that would come at me. It hasn't really been until very recently that my foundation and the security of my salvation has been built on the rock of God's grace and I can tell you it has made all the difference. When I rest in grace, I no longer worry about my relationship with God, I really do believe that my God is for me, when before I always sort of feared him. Anyway, just my input, great blog.
For some reason this blog totally clicked in this morning and I get it! Wow! The scales have fallen from my eyes (ew- now there's scales all over the kitchen table-LOL). As for your hair, I guess you could not see into the future that God would bring forth a time such as this when it would be cool to be bald- and, hey, you were there first - a trendsetter. Actually, I kinda personally understand the hair loss panic (not something I want to talk about here though). I'm glad you chose option #3. :)
Darin, I believe in you too brother :-). Thanks for sharing the story about how you lost your hair! That is an incredible 'believe' testimony. I never would have guessed. I assumed you were one of those dudes who were 'tuff enough' to be bold and shave your head, like Theo Kojak. Daring, different, and bold :-). Neat how Father works all things for good, many of them in ways we never would have guessed!
Tamie, you're confusing an article about the meaning of life with what to do concerning a specific problem in life. FIRST - I think you should reread that article because you came away with a dangerously wrong idea of what it was saying. It wasn't saying to not try to fix problems in your life. It was saying that life is not ABOUT fixing problems. There is a world of difference, but if you came away from that hearing what I think you heard, you need to either email me or call me so I can explain it to you. I love you too. It is vital that you understand that you walked away from that last article with completely upside-down perspective of what was said. Never, ever, ever ,ever did it say or even suggest for you not to try in life.
So, instead of focusing on my actions, and trying to make myself better (like you were taking about in your last postcast), I need to just believe that I will change, and that God will change me? And what if he doesn't, does that mean I didn't believe hard enough, or well enough. I love you Darin, but I am confussed.
That is a very sweet and moving thing to say. Thank you. You touched my heart with that. And by the way, I do believe in you:)
Darin, don't know if U remember a conversation I had w/ you a while back, during a rough patch. You're one of the few people who I would trust to be my 'therapist', but one of even fewer people who honestly didn't think I need one. Over time, I think your belief in me helped me more than some of my 'therapy' friends have... hmmm...
Tamie, I agree with Jenny. It's not something that takes place in one day. I think for many people it's about breaking the habit of misusing believe on negative things in our life. It is a choice. The negative beliefs that seem to be such a huge part of who you are, are beliefs that you can choose to disagree with. You have to be willing to allow yourself to say a good thing about you. This is a perfect example of how the work of Christ is of no effect in someone's life until they believe the better thing is true for them as well as for everyone else.
Ok I'll answer Marie first - Certainly it's not wrong to pray for the protection of your family while they travel. The question I was raising is "what motivated the prayer?" Your scenario is clearly a situation where the motivation was love and not fear........Now for the OCD and Bi-Polar part. If you look at the heart of each of these things you will find that they are caused and maintained by choice. YES these are personality characteristics, gifts and also emotions we all share in the course of life. Any one of these things CAN become a disorder if we put our faith in them and allow them to control our lives. That's the difference.
I'll try to answer what I think is an answer to Tamie's question, though of course I'm not Darin. Isn't this what renewing the mind is all about? Isn't change because we hear the truth from Father, choose to believe it and then by grace allow the Holy Spirit to do the work of making it reality in our lives? Sounds like a formula but I don't intend that. It's not an instant process but I'm approaching it that way. Any keys please Darin? It's not easy is it, to change mental habit patterns that can almost be as old as we are.
So, how do you go about changing the negetive beliefs that seem to be such a huge part of who I am that a pep talk isn't going to do a whole lot of good?
The part I think I understand here is that "believe" can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I also see how negative things that we believe about ourselves can become crippling patterns in our lives. What I don't understand is how this relates to things like depression, bi-polar & OCD (which you seemed to mention as just "part of life" in your last podcast.)Another thing: Ok,say if my family is going on a cross-country road trip and I pray for their protection, because, y'know, unexpected things happen, but not really believing anything bad will happen- that is wrong? Just a little unclear on things & trying to understand. Love ya.