Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
We acknowledge God because we believe in Him. When we see things that cannot be explained by any natural means, we acknowledge the hand of God, His mercies, His grace. Sadly it is not for all to believe and acknowledge. So what do we do with the scoffers?
The second part of this verse is just as important as the first, perhaps more. We see a healing, praise God. They say you have no proof. This is not the time to argue. I admit it isn’t easy to face a scoffer who laughs at our faith but getting defensive and allowing our emotions to take over will not win them over.
Psalms 3:8 Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.
Salvation is not ours to give. All we can do is show the blessings bestowed upon us by the God we serve. How we do that comes from following directions. Acting defensive before scoffers does not prove God’s grace, it only confirms the scoffers belief in who we are as Christians. We cannot exceed their expectations by meeting them.
In all thy ways includes those moments when your faith is put to the test. Will you get defensive or will you seek God’s directions? While their salvation is our responsibility, showing the grace which is a gift from God towards us is our duty.
Romans 12:1-3 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Loved your post—you asked what about the scoffers? I thought right away–“speaking the truth in love”. I remember a young man who came to work in my department several years ago. He was a confirmed atheist. He said to me, “Ron, you are a christian and I don’t believe in christianity. I bet you don’t believe in evolution, do you.” I said, “yes I do! to not believe in evolution is to say that everything stands still, and I am not that stupid”. This blew him out of the water. My answer got his attention and I explained how I looked at new volcanic islands and the changing of the earth surface etc. I said, however, when it comes to mankind and crossing genetic lines, God says He created man in His image, so that is where the line stops. He then said, what is your thought on the “Big Bang Theory”? I said I believe in that too—in my Bible it says that “the world was framed by the Word of God” and you can’t get a bigger “bang” than to have God speak His Word”! I was able to get his attention and some time later after he had quit the company, he called me from Chicago to thank me for the help I had been to him and that his life had “changed direction”. ” A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger” Proverbs 15:1. Our job is to “WIN SOULS” for our Lord Jesus. Thanks again for this terrific post and thank you Lord for every opportunity to bring Glory to your Awesome Name.