Why
do you believe what you believe?
The
words hung in the air as our youth small group members searched our brains
for an answer that would satisfy such an unfair question. Seven of us sat, wedged into preschool Sunday
school chairs at a low table that some of the teens in our group had sat in
when they were preschoolers.
The
playing field was leveled. Students and
youth group leaders were equally stumped.
Because
things have happened that can’t be explained by anything other than God, offered one. Because it’s what I’ve always believed, said
another. I grew up learning about God; I
don’t know any different, agreed someone else.
I
nodded. These things were true of me,
too, more or less. Because I just
do. Because I choose to believe. Because of what Jesus did for us. Because God said these things, and I believe
him. It’s truth. It’s in my gut, my heart, my mind. Because at some point I took a leap of faith
(there’s no other way to describe it) and I believe that Jesus died on the
cross to atone for my sins and that God made this plan and I’m a part of it and
I know he’s there. I just do. I know Jesus did this for us. For me.
By
faith we are saved. Not by what we have
done, or what we can see. By faith. A friend of mine once told me that she would
believe in God if she saw all the things happen that God said happened. If she had proof with her eyes that he is who
he says he is. Somehow reading about it isn’t
enough. I weakly appealed to her heart
with my own experience. I just couldn’t
explain well enough to get her to see why I believe, how I got to that leap of
faith point. I couldn’t explain myself
because it wasn’t me who gave me the faith.
It was God. I chose to believe,
then he did the rest.
Without
faith the story of Jesus dying on the cross is just a tragic story, and God is
just an idea created by humans to keep each other in line. Right and wrong and truth and lies are
arbitrary, able to be interchanged according to the social climate. It seems crazy to believe in some
all-powerful being having a hand in the world’s affairs. Why live according to some concept of
eternity that no one can see? There’s an
explanation for every one of these questions that works to unravel faith in what
God has done for us.
And
don’t even get me started on how Jesus
managed to be human and God and Spirit in one.
I. Don’t. Know.
The
fact is that I believe. Faith in God holds
my beliefs intact. I’ve had enough years
of interacting with God to know that this isn’t just some whim. As proof, I see churches and people who work
to spread the Good News about Jesus and read enough about how God works in the
world that can’t be explained by anything else.
People
may say that I’m fooling myself, that I am just another pawn in some ancient mind-numbing
movement that gets people to pledge loyalty to a belief system that has no
current significance, just another cog in another money-making machine. My mind has adapted to conform to a belief
system that lulls me into a sense of false security and hope. It’s the only thing that keeps most people
from hurling themselves off the nearest bridge.
Now,
I can be a cynic, but even that’s a
little dark for me.
I
believe that just as God created us individually, he gave us faith the same
way. I can only explain faith the way I’ve
experienced it; I can only offer proof in what makes sense to me. I can’t hold my faith in my hands as an
object to show others that it is real, just as God doesn’t present himself on
earth wearing a nametag, offering trips back in time to meet Abraham and Moses
and to watch Jesus die on the cross. I
can’t tell you how to have faith. All I
can tell you is how I came to have faith.
That’s
all I can offer. I’m so thankful that
God can offer so much more.
Dear God,
The faith of millions is your work.
Thank you for what you have done for all of us.
Amen.
*******
A topic I have been giving much thought to lately. Good words.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jess! It's a question our group found hard to answer no matter age or length of time being a Christian. Truly a playing field leveler.
DeleteYou speak my heart, my friend. Truly! It's SO hard to describe, explain, justify- and even prove our faith, isn't it? Sigh...
ReplyDeleteI like to express it this way -
I think God's love language is the heart. He speaks and moves and does his miraculous wonders with the human heart. Our hearts are His precious masterpiece of creation in each one of us. If your heart isn't open to His Hand, then He can't move it, He can't speak in it, He can't inspire it. Sure, He *could* move mountains... but instead He moves Hearts. That is where faith is discovered and nourished and inspired. God's after our hearts... Anyone who looks elsewhere won't find Him.
I am going to put this in my arsenal of explanations for faith. So true. God can move mountains, but he moves hearts instead - I love that. Thank you for this perspective, dear friend! xoxo
DeleteFaith is a beautiful thing. It encourages us. :) lovely post.
ReplyDeleteIt really does, doesn't it? It's always working. Thank you.
DeleteAndrea, as always, spot on! If I had to explain why I believe I would try to say something similar. You did a wonderful putting it in writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Teresa! The question doesn't come up often, but when it does, I rack my brain for a cohesive explanation for faith. Some days I make more sense than others.
DeleteNo matter in what we place the faith, the concepts are the same. They come from even faith in ourselves to handle something well in our everyday lives. Faith is the first ingredient.
ReplyDeleteSo true! It goes along with confidence and trust, two things that can be hard-won. No wonder faith is something we all cling to in one form or another.
DeleteSomething very much on my mind lately. This also echoes a discussion my Husband and I had recently about whether God is actively engaged in the events of our lives or not. Faith is really freaking hard some days and I"m struggling quite a bit with that right now. I'm really glad I saw this in my feed today. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad this spoke to you, Lisa! Faith is hard at times, especially when we are going through a challenging time (for better or worse). It's hard not to be skeptical when we can't see the thing that gives us hope. In my experience, it's always worth it to keep the faith, no matter how maddeningly trite and simple it sounds. xoxo
DeleteIt is very hard to hang tough when we can't see the path ahead clearly. It is very hard to keep faith when the challenges seem to just keep coming (today the printer broke - honestly!) and nothing seems to be getting fixed. But I'm not stopping..if I'm the woman of faith I claim to be, I have to keep believing that it will all fall into place. Eventually. But seriously, God, a little something sooner rather than later??? Just saying...
DeleteI get that. Totally.
Delete