Faith Is: What I’m Learning
Faith is a topic slippery as an eel. Given that I’m referring to faith in an infinite being, it would be unfitting for this faith to be any more concrete. Friends, I’m learning that this week. While I’ve found many things in my short years that faith is not, I’d like to take a few minutes and share with you what this week has shown me it is.
Faith is prayer
Confident, bold prayer is truly faith, my friends. I think this to be the most evident form of faith. Maybe I’m wrong, but how much courage does it take to storm the doors of the royal court and make one’s plea in the full knowledge the King will acquiesce? How much does one have to believe in the goodness and love of our Father to humbly request the desires of their heart and not doubt He will provide and abundantly? But this is precisely to what we’re called; this is what we’re pleaded with to do daily. And the mind-blowing aspect to all of this is that it makes God indescribably happy.
Faith is action
I consider this a corollary to my first point, but prayer is nothing without acting upon it. When God grants our prayers, gives us some direction, it’s imperative we follow through. We may not understand, and oftentimes I don’t, but that is the essence of faith. We will ruffle feathers. We will rock the boat. And those around us will question our sanity. All of these things have been happening since the days of Abraham. Why should the cease now? Without the inexplicable, faith is nothing more than academic and God is far bigger than a collection of facts and figures.
Faith is bigger than us
This life isn’t about you or me. It isn’t about today or tomorrow or even yesterday. Faith is about eternity, infinity, things that words cannot encompass. The need for faith isn’t borne of joy, happiness or charity. Faith is from God. It is a gift given so that we may enjoy gifts bigger than all our senses. Faith is the only way we can hope to begin to live a purpose, from God, that is guaranteed bigger than our mortal selves. Simply, how can we hope to experience or enjoy an infinite God without a gift such as faith?
I’m still learning what faith is, but I’ve seen it this week to be active. It is boldness in the asking. It is assuredness in the following. It is allowing the infinite to be just that. We have been given grace in the past so that we may be fortified in the future. We’ve been given God, a gift no one could hope to contain, so that we would have to share. But we must share. Because God is that big. And it’s only because of faith we know Him at all. It’s only because of Him we have any part in Him. No, it doesn’t make sense, but I don’t want to wrap my head around this brilliant, beautiful God. Because He is.