Compelling Faith

Real faith is not cheap, nor is it simple, nor is it easy! The Bible says, Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1, ASV) Faith, according to Hebrews 11, is how we take possession of eternal life while we yet live in this present world. All around us we see death, physical and spiritual, but by faith we understand that there is more, a reason to transcend the sensual, greedy, lustful, materialistic way of life that the faithless lead. Does such a transforming faith come easily to us? No. Should it? I think not.

Dr. Timothy Johnson (ABC News Medical Editor and pastor) in his best-selling book, Finding God In The Questions, tells about the many skeptics who wonder if there is a God, why He does not make His existence more plain. Woody Allen jokes, "If only God would give me some clear sign, like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank account!" Somewhat irreverent, but which of us has not, at one time or another, wished for God to make Himself plainly known? Johnson suggests that were God to speak in a voice we could plainly discern, He would destroy the gift of our will, for we would be overwhelmed into passive submission. He longs for us to choose to seek Him, by faith, and to love Him without terror.

Johnson re-tells Kierkegaard's parable of a king who falls in love with a peasant girl. He wonders how to make his love known to her without ruining her ability to freely love him in return. He does not want to simply order her to love him though he could. If he gives her liberal gifts befitting his royal status, he can never know if she loves him or just his gifts. So, he decides to assume the guise of a peasant to woo her. This is the story of God! He loves us, leaving us many evidences of that love, but His great act of demonstrated love was in the Incarnation, when He became a man and lived among us.

We read the Bible's revelation, observe the evidence of Creation, sense the Spirit at work and 'seeing' that He exists, we choose to love Him by faith! Like any love relationship, loving God is complicated. We bring expectations that are unrealistic to our love for Him. We misunderstand Him. We try His love when our affections wander to lesser loves- YET, even if we are faithless, it does not destroy His love! The Scripture calls us to understand the greatness of knowing Him saying: This is a sure thing:
If we die with him, we’ll live with him; If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us; If we give up on him, he does not give up— for there’s no way he can be false to himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13, The Message)

One of the mistaken ideas about faith is that it will eliminate the difficulties, answer all the questions. That is not true. The truth is that the deeper our faith, the more profound our questions will be! The more of God we see, the more we begin to know that there is so much more to understand. The greater our love for Him, the more He asks of us in return. That is why the Word reminds us that "it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." (Hebrews 11:6, NLT)

Go deeper, Believer. Press past the shallow faith that is focused on today's bread, on comfortable circumstances. By faith, ask the King to draw you into His embrace so that you will know Him, serve Him, love Him to eternity.