Both/And Faith

 

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1

Had a great conversation with friends yesterday, and this morning I woke up kind of still lingering there.

We were talking about our experiences with God where there wasn't any real explanation for how things went down, except that He was present or He intervened in some way.

Times when we were protected from broken glass or vicious dogs. Times when we received something we really needed for our children that was beyond our human ability to provide.
Times when we narrowly missed certain disaster.
Times when, by no conjuring of our own, we were surprised by what felt like a warm hand on our shoulder, or the sound of our name being spoken.

We could have gone on.
Lots of stories like this among us.
Maybe you have a few of your own.

And even though I can easily see the lifted brow of the cynic, and in some ways I don't even blame you, I still LOVE these stories. And while I can't objectively verify anyone else's experience, I do know the validity of what's happened to me. And with all my heart I believe in a God who does indeed move into our time and space to work things out for His bigger plans and purposes, often in mysterious ways. It's happened for me too many times.

And.

I'm not thinking this is actually what faith is.

I think faith is believing even when these things aren't happening. When prayers go unanswered, and the money thing doesn't come through, and we don't get into the school of our choosing, big plans get cancelled, and friends die of cancer, and babies are born still.

When heaven seems silent, that's where faith is most faithful.

No easy answers here. God can't be explained, nor does He need us to do that for Him. Hebrews 11, the whole chapter, will go on to describe faith in both the miraculous and the horrifying realities of life in this present age. Both/and.

At least that's where my own journey is taking me.

And for wherever all these ramblings take me today, I probably have to admit that a big test of my faith this morning is that we will eventually see Spring.

The crabapple blossoms on our street will be worth the wait!
I believe it!