This Far by Faith

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Several years ago, on some road trip, I remember seeing a license plate from Missouri with the inscription, “The Show-Me State.”  Since I was born and raised in New Jersey, I had little to no idea about what Missouri was like or why it would require tangible evidence.  I would later learn that this adage came from U.S. Congressman Willard Vandiver in an 1899 speech, where he said, “I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.”

From the point of view where “actions speak louder than words,” this requirement seems less of a demand than a reasonable request.  None of us want to be taken as a fool or considered gullible.  Promises are great, but until we have hard evidence that the promise is being kept, we will remind skeptical.

The above quote from Paul to his letter to the Hebrews seems to countermand the demand for evidence.  It brings to mind the scene of “Doubting Thomas” stating he must put his fingers in the holes on Christ’s body before he will believe in the resurrection.  When Thomas does meet the resurrected Christ and he is invited to touch the wounds, he doesn’t, yet he proclaims, “’My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’” (John 20:28-29)

So where does all of this rhetoric leave us?  For many, the crux of the “problem” of faith is that it deals with something so intangible that it difficult to even express what we do hope for.  And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, there are promises that we think we have been given, such as if I am a good person and follow the rules, good things should happen to me; or belief in God will make life easy.  Crises of faith happen when (inevitably) events happen that are difficult, challenging, even heart-breaking.  In those moments, when what we thought we were promised falls apart, we can begin to question where God is in the midst of all of it.

This is when we need to be truthful about what God did promise, “I will be your God and you will be my people.” (Jeremiah 7:23) “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).  “God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him would not die but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16) There are more, but, as these examples show, we are not promised an easy life regardless of how good we are, but we are promised that we are loved and God is always with us.  Even when we feel far away from God, God is still with us.  The challenge is allowing ourselves to be open to the ways God is with us that are less empirically evident.  God is in the deep breath that lowers our heart rate and allows more oxygen to flow to our brains when we are in the midst of a crisis.  God is in the hug from a loved one “just cause.”  God is in the glories of creation, majestic mountains and roaring oceans, even in what some might call a “weed.” 

Do we choose to pay heed to these things?  Are they not enough evidence to satisfy our skepticism?  Perhaps, but that is why we PRACTICE our faith, because that is how we get better with seeking and finding God.  Indeed, the more we practice, the easier it is to have faith in what is not seen, because we can FEEL God’s presence in the midst of our joys and sorrows, the good and the difficult, the blessings and the heart-aches.  That is the true test of faith.

In Christ,

Rev. Valerie+