This is an email I sent to a dear friend a couple of years ago. It has been edited to protect his identity. All quoted Scripture is NASB.
My Dear Brother,
The last time we spoke, we talked about belief. Jesus said in John 6:29, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." I want to encourage you to read this passage starting at verse 26 and read to the end of the chapter. I just read it and I see your struggle in the midst of this story.
Many of the people who were following Jesus were looking for the benefits He could give them. He told them He was the bread of life. In other words, Jesus is the sustenance that is required to "live." They were seeing the physical benefits as what they needed, but He was trying to get them to understand that it was Him they needed. They were offended when He told them they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood! Many left Him at that point, but the twelve disciples stayed. Peter said to Jesus in verse 68, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God." They chose relationship with Jesus over the benefits He could provide.
I pointed out that one of your flesh patterns is to seek out happiness. You place your emotions on a pedestal and want them to be positive. "Feeling good" is a bi-product of what we believe. You believe much of the time that you are not loved, not adequate, not successful, etc. Anyone who believes this way is going to struggle with depression, anger, anxiety, etc.
When Jesus said in John 6:29 "...believe in Him whom He has sent", He didn't say "have knowledge." I realize you are intellectually smart regarding all I am telling you. I don't think I've said one thing you don't already know. You kept asking me, "what do I do?" Believing is more than doing, it is "being." That was what you experienced Monday when you felt an overwhelming peace. You heard the Holy Spirit speak and you believed. In that moment you were in fellowship with God, and you were "being" who you were made to be. No job, no career, no human relationship can fulfill you the way God can.
There is a man in my church who is in his 70's. He told me recently he has always known God loves him, but it has only been in the past few years that he has come to realize God is "in love" with him. My friend, God is in love with you. You are the object of His affection, and He told me He absolutely loved hanging out with you on Monday. He only wants you to believe what is true and hang out with Him daily (I'm not just talking about "quiet times"). He wants to love your wife and your kids through you. He wants to go to work with you and work through you; He wants you to stop looking at your life and seeing yourself as a failure.
My friend, you were made to believe. Jesus told His disciples to not hinder the children to come to Him. He said the kingdom of God belonged to such as these (Matt. 19:14). If you tell a child something is true, they will take it to the bank. Their life will follow the course of that belief. This kind of believing is what Jesus was talking about. Allow yourself to experience this child-life belief.
I could keep going, but this is plenty to process. Know that I love you with all my heart, and I am in your corner pulling for you.
Your brother in Christ,
Tom
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