Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the certainty of things unseen. Hebrews 11:1
For some people, this explanation is nearly as confusing as the term itself. Does ‘faith’ mean you shut off all your brain cells and sing ‘Kumbaya’ around the campfire? Well, as appealing as that may be after a hard day of work, faith is more than that.
One song I used to sing had the lyrics ‘Faith is just believing what God says he’ll do.” God promises to be with us, to guide us, to never forsake us. Do you think God will keep his word?
Another helpful example comes from the Doctor Who episode “Flesh and Stone.” The Doctor’s companion Amy has to keep her eyes closed or she’ll die, but the monstrous Weeping Angels, who can only be stopped by being seen, are closing in. The Doctor has to leave to find a way of escape, but he promises to return. Unfortunately, past events make Amy skeptical of this claim.
“You need to start trusting me; it’s never been more important.” The Doctor says.
“But you don’t always tell me the truth.”
“If I always told you the truth, I wouldn’t need you to trust me.”
It’s easy to trust when we have all the details, but that’s not faith—it’s sight. For example, in the story above, Amy doesn’t really know much about the Doctor, but based on what she has seen, she has to trust that he means what he says.
It’s the same way with God. No matter how long you’ve been a Christian, there are still things you won’t understand about him. You have to take what you do know and trust him from there.
Well, it's not exactly the same, because God never lies. But He rarely lets us know what's coming - except that, whatever it is, He's going to be there.
ReplyDeleteYes, I realize I oversimplified things,but that last line really struck me. God doesn't always 'tell us the truth' in the sense of 'a straightforward answer.' If, for example, we ask 'why is this happening?' we probably won't get an answer right away. We might get 'trust me--" which, while truthful, isn't what we meant when we asked.
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