More Thoughts on Faith

I’m still pondering a couple things on faith theme again today. One item is just because a person believes something or has faith in something doesn’t mean that it is true. By the same token, just because you choose not to believe something doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Our faith or belief really has no bearing on truth. Truth is true regardless of how one feels or believes or perceives. To preface truth with words like “your” or “my” is meaningless. You may observe something from a different perspective or have a life experience on which you base a belief that is far different from my own. But that doesn’t change the truth. If truth was not something solid and unchanging how could we have a foundation for faith in anything?

Another thought is something James writes about. Faith alone is worthless. It requires action. I could easily say how much I believe parachuting is safe and would be fun. But am I willing to step through the door of an airplane as it soars above the ground? Or how about an example a little closer to home. I know and believe that spending time reading my Bible and praying daily is one of the most important things I can do. But do my actions reflect that? Who is king of my late nights, Leno, Letterman or The Lord of Lords?

I have faith that God will make sure my needs and those of my family are taken care of. But does my giving reflect that? As long as I’m on money here, is there somebody out there who can tell me where the line is between faithful stewardship and reckless irresponsibility? Sure I want to become more generous. I love giving. But I’m also in charge of making sure I am wise in how I provide for my family. We are a fairly frugal family. So it’s not like I’m feeling guilty about how we do use our money. But I read stories about people like the widow in 1 Kings 17 who just had enough for a last meal for her son and herself. Then Elijah asked her to bring him food first. She did and her oil and flour never ran out. Do I have that kind of faith? Could I give away my last meal? I’ve got enough for countless meals right now. Is that meaning my jar of oil is full because I've been faithful with what little I have, or is God providing me with opportunities to give the oil He's put in my jar away, or both?

Boy, this trying to live acting on what you believe sure can be complex.

How Much Faith

I’ve been thinking about faith lately and about just how one “lives by faith.” I’ve been struck by one very interesting observation. It doesn’t matter who you are. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all live by faith. I’m not just talking about a little bit of faith. Almost everything we do involves a good deal of faith.

As I drove to work this morning I had to have faith that the drivers around me were going to stay in their lanes or honor their red light when I had a green one. I had to have faith when I entered the elevator that it would indeed take me up five floors without plunging downward. I have faith that the unseen, unknown builders of this place knew what they were doing and that they constructed this mass of brick and steel in a way that enables it to withstand the wind and rain. From simple things like flipping on a light switch to eating the food brought to me in a restaurant requires faith in countless people and chains of circumstances beyond my control.

With all this faith in men for which we don’t give a second thought, why do we find it so hard to have faith in God? As Christians we all believe in the sinful nature of fallen man. We know apart from the saving grace of Jesus their hearts are evil. Yet we find it so easy to have faith in them for so many things. The miner who pulled the ore from the earth used to make you car is much less worthy of our faith than The One who put the ore in the earth. The engineer who studied the physics to gauge the stresses this building can withstand knows nothing compared to The One who commands the winds, waves and all forces of nature with His words.

I’m not advocating that we stop having all this faith. But when we see all the ways in which we have faith in other people or things we should be prompted to trust God and place so much more faith in Him. Buildings crumble, people have auto accidents, but He is unfailing.

Don't Waste a Breath

"Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow." Psalm 144:4

Who among us doesn't look back on their life and have those things cross our mind that we wish had turned our differently. Each of us can see the results of a poor choice we've made or of circumstances beyond our control that, at least for a season, had a great negative impact on the course of our life. The big issue is what do we do with that failure, disappointment, hurt, or regret.

Some people have trouble letting go of past things. Granted, every experience, good and bad, leave some kind of impression on us and have been incorporated within to make us the person we are today. But there is a great deal of difference between having past events shape you and holding so tightly to those regrets from the past that you are unable to hold your hands open with expectancy of what God has for you in your journey ahead.

In my "circle of influence" I am dealing with one of those who is in a constant state of regret. They are still ruled by things they did or didn't do, or ways they did or didn't act decades ago. This has given way to a lifestyle of worry. It seems every action is second guessed, every conversation, present as well as past, is replayed in their mind worrying if somebody was upset by what was said, or how it was said, or by what may have been unsaid.

As I ponder this situation and struggle with how to deal with this person, I am reminded of just how short life is here on this earth. We weren't created to be consumed by the haunting mistakes of our past. He wishes that we "redeem the time for the days are evil," rather squander what little time we have being so paralyzed by the past. But this person has allowed worry and fear to rob them of the Joy of Life. Not just the joy they may have missed over these past decades, but also they have robbed them self of any joy that the future may hold for them. What is even harder is that this person knows this is no way to live. They know they need to release their grip on the past and follow Paul's advice,

"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13b,14

I don't even know if anybody will be reading this. But if you do, please pray for this person.


"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." Isaiah 43:18