Take Him at His Word

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19)

This verse reminds us of one simple but profound truth: God always keeps His Word.  His Word can always be trusted.  He does not waver, lie, or change His mind, and never fails to fulfill what He has promised.

God always keeps His Word.

As I was reading about various healings that Jesus performed, one story in particular stood out to me. In John 4:50 we read, “Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son is alive.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went home.” This was the account of a royal official whose son was near death.  What’s striking is not just the miracle—it’s the man’s response. He took Jesus at His Word and acted on it, even before he saw any evidence.

This raises an important question for us: Are we willing to do the same?  Are we willing to take God at His Word—not just the verses we like or the ones that sound good to us, but every word He has spoken? To do that, we have to be careful not to lean on our own assumptions or modern ideas of what we wish God meant. Instead, we must seek to understand what He truly means. Otherwise, we risk becoming disillusioned and disappointed.

Here’s the challenge: in our modern world, we often go “a mile wide and an inch deep.” Scripture gets quoted easily—sometimes even flippantly—but are we willing to slow down and dig into what it actually says?  Taking God at His Word means going deeper than surface-level slogans.

Taking God at His Word means going deeper than surface-level slogans.

Take, for example, a familiar phrase from 1 Peter 5: “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” At first glance, it’s comforting—and rightly so, because it reminds us of God’s deep care. But if we only treat this verse like a bumper-sticker slogan, we risk missing the richness of what Peter is teaching.  To truly take God at His Word here, we need the whole picture.

When we step back and read the full passage, a much deeper picture emerges:

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:6–11)

Do you see it? To take God at His Word in this passage is to humble ourselves under His hand, entrusting Him with our burdens and believing that in His timing, He will lift us up. It means we not only cast our cares but also remain watchful, resist the enemy, and stand firm in faith—confident that God Himself will restore and strengthen us.

Here are the clear directives we’re given:

• Humble yourselves.

• Cast your anxieties on Him.

• Be sober-minded.

• Be watchful.

• Resist the devil.

• Stand firm in the faith.

• Trust that God, in His time, will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Each of these requires trust. Each of these requires faith. And each of these calls us to the same response as the royal official in John 4: to take God at His Word and act on it.

So the question comes back to us: Will we live as though God means what He says? Will we believe His promises before we see the evidence? Will we let His Word guide not only our hopes, but also our actions?

Will we live as though God means what He says?

Because when we take Him at His Word, we discover what that official did—God is faithful, and His Word never fails.

THINK ABOUT IT

• When you read Scripture, do you tend to stop at the “comforting” parts, or do you dig into the full context? How might knowing the bigger picture change your trust in God’s Word?

  
  

• Like the royal official in John 4, what is one step of faith you could take today—acting on God’s Word before you see the evidence?