Faith
14
God gives every person some faith. (Romans
12.3) There is not an entirely cynical person on the planet. There are
people who have become cynical in certain areas, but everybody trusts somebody
or something in some way. It is part and parcel of how we are made, of how God
created us. We are each of us born with the capacity to believe.
Though God gifts us with this
capacity, what He does not do is forcibly direct that faith. The capacity to
believe is present in all of us. We get to choose where we place it.
Imagine for a moment that there are five
people present, each possessing an apple. In front of those five people, I
place a number of baskets. I then invite each person to place their apple in
the basket of their choice. Walking slowly up and down the line of baskets, the
first individual chooses the basket that looks the best to them. It may be
because they like the way that basket looks. It may be because others have told
them that is the best basket. It may be that his experience tells him this is a
better basket. It may be that there are lots of other apples in that basket, or
none at all. But he picks a basket for what seems to him a good reason.
This is precisely what the average person
of your acquaintance does with their God-given capacity to believe. They place
it in one or more of a number of different baskets. Some, for instance, place
their faith in themselves. They back themselves. They bet on themselves. In
their own mind, they are the smartest, the strongest, the best, the greatest.
They believe in themselves. Others place their faith in the government. Given
enough power and money, the government will eliminate crime, solve immigration
issues, fix the income inequality gap, and provide healthcare to all. Often
this type of individual is highly invested in whichever politician is
campaigning for office next. Still other people place their faith in money.
They reach for it, grasping it, acquiring it with might and main. After all, it
is called the Almighty Dollar for a reason. If I can just get enough of it
everything will be all right. Some choose to place their faith in the media,
believing this trusted source or that one, molding their actions and reactions
in life around what some influencer or journalist or broadcaster says or
writes. Numerous other examples could be furnished.
What is the problem with this scenario?
Not its accuracy, for ‘tis highly accurate. This is exactly what people do. The
problem is in the baskets they choose. You can back yourself, but you will soon
find you are dumber, weaker, and more fallible than you think. Government has a
God-ordained role, without question, but it is not as a basket for faith. The
only people who have ever been let down by government are all the people who have
ever lived under one. Money? Ha! It gets lost, stolen, inflated away, not to
mention what it purchases is only temporary at best. The media? Both the accepted
wisdom and the countercultural wisdom of the day are often wrong. Science? The
military? Name it and it has been proven to be a perpetual failure in some way.
The average person of an experienced age
has come to admit this. The next problem is that they often simply choose a different
basket. My employer let me down so now I will trust the government. My health
failed me so now I will trust science and medicine. I am just taking my apple
from one bad basket to a different yet equally flawed basket. Nothing ultimately
gets better this way.
What am I supposed to do then? Let us turn
to Jesus for the answer, shall we? Walking into Jerusalem during the Passion
week, He cursed a fig tree. For the context and the meaning of it, you can see
this blog post here from my series on the life of Christ. My point today
is Jesus’ reaction to the Apostles shock at finding it withered the very next
day. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God (Mark 11.22). The
wise man places faith in God.
This is not blind faith. It is not walking
up to the basket labeled “God”, closing our eyes, and dropping our apple into
it. It is a conscious decision, understanding Who and what God is. It is the
application of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. God is simply the best
basket. He is the best receptacle for faith.
Why? Well, He is eternal. The eternal
God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33.27).
That means He sees the end from the beginning. That means He is already in
the future. That means His guidance of and preparation in my life will be done
with perfect knowledge.
God is all-powerful. And Jesus came and
spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth
(Matthew 28.18). That’s substantially more power than the amount of power
available to any other basket, is it not?
God is all-knowing. Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4.13). I do
not know about you, but I would prefer to trust Someone who is never surprised
about anything or anyone. Nor ever will be.
God has never tried and failed. So
shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me
void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it (Isaiah 55.11). There is nothing God has ever decided to
do that was beyond Him.
God binds Himself to His own Word. God
is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should
repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he
not make it good? (Numbers 23.19). See if any other basket can make the
same claim with a straight face. Go ahead. I dare you.
Why have I chosen to extend my writing on
faith? Because in the situation in which we find ourselves, the calls for us to
trust in the wrong thing are clamoring, frantic, panicked, and wrong. I do not
want to let the media or society or medicine or history or my own feelings
drive my life. I want to live a God-driven life. I want to close the eyes and
ears of my life, and in the stillness of my heart hear His still small voice. And
I want to place everything in that basket.
Join me. Together, let us place our faith in
the only basket that really makes any sense. Let us have faith in God.
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