The Aphids of Unbelief

Faith is the one thing God demands from us for salvation—living, persevering, obedient, saving faith—the faith of Abraham, the father of all believers.

No wonder that Satan attacks us daily in an attempt to destroy our faith!

I used to have very beautiful multi-colored roses in my garden. One day, though, I noticed that the rosebuds were covered with aphids, which were slowly sucking the life out of the plants. In the end they destroyed the beauty of the flowers.

Satan’s attacks against our faith are like the aphids that ruined the rose blooms.

Satan’s first attack is through unbelief.

If faith is the key to salvation, then unbelief surely must result in misery and ruin.

The writer to the Hebrews warns, “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12). An unbelieving heart fails to combine God’s promises with faith and so prevents us from entering into the hope, joy, peace, happiness, and rest of God’s salvation.

We have seen that Abraham was the quintessential man of faith. Sadly, later generations of his offspring, the Israelites, became characterized by unbelief. Instead of trusting God and his promises, they allowed the aphids of unbelief to ruin their lives.

The book of Exodus recounts how these Israelites, who had experienced divine deliverance from slavery to Pharaoh, murmured against God time after time as they encountered difficulties in the desert (See Exodus 14 – 17).

Murmuring and complaining are sure signs of unbelief, and the evil of unbelief merits God’s anger.

We are told that God killed that entire generation of Israelites; not one unbeliever entered the promised land. The greatest insult we can give to God is to not believe him. It is to say, in effect, “You are a liar! You are untrustworthy and unreliable.”

How many times have the aphids of unbelief destroyed those who seemed to be believers! Over time their hearts grew increasingly hardened and they ended up serving Satan.

So beware of the aphids of unbelief, and fight against them at the first sign of infestation.

If you would like more on this topic, we recommend Pastor P. G. Mathew’s book: Muscular Christianity: Learning Endurance from the Book of Hebrews.