In a 2011 Gallup poll, 92% of Americans said they believed in God.  While this widespread belief in God may seem remarkable given what we see in much of our pop culture, a more telling question might be how much confidence do we have in God with respect to our day-to-day actions?  Do we seek his guidance for both large and small decisions?  Do we tell the boss what he or she wants to hear or speak the truth? Do we correct a teenage child even though it may provoke an extreme reaction?  Do we offer to pray with a co-worker who has just learned that he or she has been diagnosed with cancer?

God asked Gideon to lead the Israelites against the Midianites who had been raiding their lands.  Gideon believed in God, but as the footnote in the Community Christian Bible suggests, his confidence in God appeared to be a bit shaky since he asked for a sign not only once but twice.  He said, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor.  If there is only dew on the fleece and the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand.” (Judges 6:36-37)  God gave him this sign, but then Gideon wanted more assurance and asked that the reverse happen with the dew being on the ground, but not the fleece.  God provided this additional assurance and then Gideon, with God’s assistance,  went on to defeat Midian.

In Hope for the Workplace – Christ in You, there is the story of Dr. Sheri Donaldson, a physical therapist whose co-worker, Ashley, was scheduled for an MRI to check on a piece of brain tumor that could not be removed from a prior surgery. Every time Ashley would have an MRI to check on the status of the tumor, she would get very anxious.  It just so happened that Sheri was able to see Ashley right before she was leaving for her appointment. Sheri sensed that the Lord wanted her to pray with Ashley that this time the MRI would show that the tumor was gone.  While Sheri had reservations about whether she should follow what she deemed a prompting from the Holy Spirit, she nevertheless placed her hand on Ashley’s forehead and prayed in the name of Jesus that the tumor would be gone.

Sheri reports, “The next time we saw each other, I was walking down the hallway past Ashley’s office and she yelled, ‘Sheri, THE TUMOR IS GONE!’ Not a trace of it on the MRI, even though it had been present on every MRI for several years.”

We see in Sheri’s story someone who not only believes in God, but also has the confidence in God to step out and boldly offer to pray with her friend that God would heal her and take away all trace of the remaining piece of brain tumor.

In John 14:12, Jesus says, “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these…and I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.”

The Bible has hundreds of promises like this one.  How much confidence do you have in them?