Faith is Strange

Faith is strange. As a matter of fact, it’s really weird. And I don’t mean “the belief system” of faith. Rather the connection we have to God through faith. That without it, we can neither approach God, nor can we be pleasing before Him. Yikes. So what is it exactly? (Some christians are thumbing through the bible of their minds right now, “Faith is the Substance of things hoped for!”) This must be a monumental question we need not take for granted. Yes faith is ‘belief’ in God and even ‘trust’ in God. But let’s not settle in our Christianese my friend. If faith is that easy to define, why is it so hard to practice? If faith is trust in God, why do we have such a difficult time trusting Him?

We live in a time where things are extremely convenient. You can order pizza, rent a movie, take a selfie, pay your bills, message your old room mate in Tokyo, check the current score of all sports televized from your cell phone. I just FaceTimed with my family in Florida from my phone while in Mexico. I could see their faces and talk to them while in another country… That’s mind-blowing to me. But maybe you’re thinking: “It’s 2015, FaceTime has been around for awhile bub.” I get it. But let’s not become numb to these luxuries. These privileges have a way of bleeding into our faith in God.

Faith is all of us being given to all of His character and promise.

Connecting with God isn’t like Wi-Fi. God wants our prayers. He wants our hearts and our minds. Faith is all of us being given to all of His character and promise. For our salvation, daily living and the big things too. Like, when you find out you’ve been diagnosed with stage 2 liver cancer. Or if you sense God calling you to the mission field or to adopt a child from Ethiopia. Whatever it may be.

I love what Francis Chan says: “I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn’t be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for Him to come through. That if He doesn’t come through, I am screwed.”

Faith is not sensible. When has faith ever made sense? For example, the Battle of Jericho. Did that make sense? “Hmm, Joshua, so you’re saying we should Mardi Gras silently around Jericho’s walls 7 days in a row and then blow our trumpets in victory? Brilliant!” I can imagine the look on Israel’s face when they got the plan. God certainly calls us to some strange things. To say or do things that make you scratch your head. And to predict with ingenuity His plan will drive you mad. Faith is not an equation. It doesn’t have to make sense because faith doesn’t look at the circumstances. Faith gazes upon our Strong & Mighty Savior.

At the least, may we have our lives explained to us? We’d like to have the full route to where God is taking us. But honestly, would you follow Him if you knew exactly where you were headed? What if there was pain and loss that He wanted to walk with you through all while holding your hand and saying “My grace is sufficient for this too.” Would you follow?