April 3
I think most of us have moments where we fully appreciate what the father of this deaf/mute boy was saying. We do believe. But there are times when our doubts do get the best of us.
It often occurs to me that there are things that we are asked to believe (in our Christian faith) that are virtually unprovable. We can be reasonably certain about our facts and tenets – but we cannot expect to know all things with absolute certainty.
But this is okay. As someone has well said… “If you can figure out God in your brain… your god is too small.”
What is more… I think God set it up this way. As positive as we can be about nearly everything we believe… there always seems to be a shadow of a doubt. (Sometimes that shadow can even seem like the darkest of night!)
The very nature of faith is that we can only see so much, learn so much, know so much… enough to come to some rational conclusions – but we can never see it all, learn it all, know it all. Otherwise, it wouldn’t require faith… it wouldn’t BE faith.
And faith is the critical component that God is seeking in us.
The Bible tells us:
Notice, it doesn’t say… “without certainty it is impossible to please God…” I think it is fascinating that God is not really interested in giving us 100% certainty because then we wouldn’t need faith – and He is pleased by our faith in Him (even when we are not completely certain).
Faith comes down to choices – based on what we think to be true. This means that there will always be some other ways of looking at what is thought to be true. The person who chooses not to believe in Jesus has his/her reasons for NOT believing – reasons that are accepted as truth. Just like us who do believe in Him.
Other world religions have faith that what they believe is true. Atheists have faith that what they believe is true. Cults have faith that what they believe is true.
So how do we know that what Christians believe is actually true?
To me… faith is only as good as the source of what you believe. Every faith system (religion, atheist, cult…) opposite of Christianity is based on a source of the best that a man can offer. The best of human thinking. The best of human enlightenment.
What sets Christianity apart is the Source of our faith. It is the God Who made us, Who loves us, Who yearns for us to know Him – who loved us so much that He decided to come live among us and give us firsthand evidence that He was real – and that He was nothing like we thought Him to be.
And the extent of His love was so great that He would rather die than live without us. He came to pay the price to redeem us from our wayward thinking – and to win us back to His Heart.
Can we know all this for certain? Truth is, there will always be something to cast doubt upon every one of these facts. But at some point, we have to say: “I don’t know it all… I can’t know it all… but what I do know, I accept… and all the rest I will leave to faith.”
It seems… God would have it no other way.
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