Gather Evidence

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

— Joshua 1:9 (NLT))

How do we become strong and courageous? How do we believe God’s words over the things we feel and see? How do we become convicted of something?

In court, a person is convicted according to the evidence that comes in. One side brings evidence of his innocence and the other side of his guiltiness. Whoever has the heaviest evidence usually wins. 

About 15 or more years ago, I was summoned to jury duty and got picked. It was a DUI case involving a young woman. The lawyer representing her was young, very sharp and good with words. He went on about how she could not have been driving the car because – blah, blah, blah. He was extremely convincing. 

Then the older lawyer representing the other side saying she was guilty got up. He was dry and boring although he presented a lot of facts as to why she was the one driving the car.  

As we retired to the back room to discuss the case, everyone of the jury members were ready to say she was innocent. When the discussion got to me, I said I have a few questions about how the car was turned and where they found the woman. Let’s look at both sides of the evidence, walk through the things that were presented and come to a conclusion. When we looked at the information presented and discussed it, the evidence for her guilt weighed heavier than the evidence for her innocence. Our conclusion was “guilty” and the shock went through the courtroom – especially on the lawyer’s faces. 

We did not let the emotional fervor of the young lawyer sway us although he was very convincing. It was the cold hard EVIDENCE that convinced us, the jury. We went with the EVIDENCE. 

This is how we convince our heart that what God says is truer than what we see or feel. Oftentimes what we see and feel sways us because we get caught up in feelings just as the jury was caught up in how the young lawyer made us feel. And as we know, feelings scream at us.  

This is exactly when we need to weigh the evidence – when our feelings are yelling at us. And how do we do this? By gathering evidence from the Bible and meditating on it. You can’t just say the words. It’s important to think about it and picture it happening as God says. It takes time. When we do this, we are storing evidence, convincing our heart of the truth. 

Gathering evidence means gathering promises in the scripture that fit our situation. It also means meditating on stories in the Bible that support the promise God gave for a particular need. 

Changing a long time heart belief does not happen by doing this one time. You must do it until your heart is convinced of God’s truth. 

“Plop into the chair of promise and sigh an amen – its done!