See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame. (Isaiah 28:16)

There’s a subtle, but important, difference between believing in God and believing God. You might easily declare you believe in God, but  look at your daily reliance on Him to determine how firmly you believe Him. Believing God means standing firmly on what He says, even when what you’re experiencing doesn’t match up to what you know God could do.

God promises He’ll answer, provide, and heal. Yet when we don’t experience answers, provision, and healing the way we expect to experience them, we feel tension between believing in God and believing God. But when we trust Him as the cornerstone and build everything firmly around Him, we feel, experience, and show our belief in Him. The cornerstone was laid by the priest as the first stone of a foundation and was the reference point for the rest of the structure. Every other stone was placed in relation to the cornerstone, which determined the solidity of the entire building.

God desires Jesus to be the cornerstone of your faith. Sometimes we want Jesus as our cornerstone, but we’ve built so long without Him, we’re unsure how to get back to the foundation. We claim that Jesus is the cornerstone, but when our world is falling around us, we become uncertain He’s enough. Sometimes don’t struggle with where we are or what we’re facing, not because of our trust in Him but because we’ve built for so long without Him, we trust ourselves more. Sometimes we believe in Jesus, but we don’t believe Him for everything.

When we are passionate about our relationship with Jesus, know Him to be true, and believe Him, we’ll share the task of placing every stone in alignment with Him. It’s not easy. It takes intentionality, attention, and patience. But He helps every step of the way.