Having Faith

Why is it so hard to have faith? Whether we lack faith in another human or in God, having faith can be hard. Completely trusting another person or a being we cannot physically see challenges us.

Faith in People

People are imperfect and let us down. People hurt us. Repeated hurt eats away at our trust and causes us to lose faith in that person. Maybe a person representing God hurt you, causing you to turn away from God and lose faith in Him.

Faith in God

Just the mere belief in God may challenge you. Because we do not physically see God and cannot scientifically define Him, some people do not believe He really exists.

The Bible defines faith as: “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Believing that God created the universe and everything in it by speaking it into existence can be mind boggling. Even though the book of Genesis described how God did it, my human brain cannot fathom it. But because I believe God’s words to be true, I accept it. I believe God’s divine powers can do immensely more than my human brain can imagine.

There are other reasons people do not have faith in God. As humans we hurt and suffer. I have heard people say “Why would a God who is good allow this to happen?” Being human and not God, I do not have all the answers. But I do know God does not deny in His word that we will not suffer while living on this earth. In fact we should expect it.

Faith while suffering

When I was going through breast cancer treatment, I saw God show up in so many ways. I had a lot of down time. It was during this time I turned to Him and I could actually hear His voice. He wanted me to see me how He saw me. He worked on me to love me, accept me.

In human form, He gave me medical, meal, flower, word and other gift-giving angels. I felt so much love and kindness from people, some close to me, others not but still showing up to shower me with love. He (along with the medical team He provided) eradicated my cancer, which I now understand but did not then know how aggressive my cancer was and its possible dire ending. For that, I need to give God glory.

During this time of suffering, my faith grew. That is not to say that sometimes I had to ask God to increase my faith. Or tell Him, although I was not afraid to leave this earth, that I was not ready since I really wanted to see my children marry and have children. After all, I am still human.

My faith sustained me as I surrendered control and trusted in God as He walked along side me in my suffering. And I had hope, because even if my treatment did not work, I knew I would be reunited with other family and friends no longer here on earth.

Faith leads to hope

Going back to the garden of Eden when sin entered this world, death and trouble entered as well. Although that sounds bleak, that is not the end of God’s story. If we keep our eyes on the end, we can live with hope amidst the suffering.

Being imperfect humans, every one of us sins. We lose our temper, allow our ego or pride to rule our actions, do things we know we should not do. We all fall short in one way or another. But God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us so much that He allowed His son, Jesus, to be His human representation of His character here on earth. Jesus lived a perfect life while here in spite of being tempted, rejected, persecuted, tortured and killed in the most horrific way at that time.

Faith in Jesus

Unlike us, Jesus knew His future and yet He came to earth and died willingly so that He could bear the punishment of our sins. Because God is Holy, we cannot be in His physical presence without atoning for our sins. Blood must be shed. That is why the Jewish people in the Old Testament sacrificed animals; the animal blood made amends for their sins.

Jesus made amends for our sins when He was crucified. But not only did He die for us, He rose from the dead and lives in heaven with God. When we set our eyes upward and not inward, we have hope. God set eternity in each of our hearts. We yearn for it even if we do not realize that is what we are yearning for.

At any time, we can call on Jesus’ name for even His name alone has power. Again, it is a divine power that is hard to explain. But if we believe Jesus died for us, bearing our sins and rising to live with God in heaven, we are guaranteed to everlasting life with them. Our faith in Jesus also equips us with His power. It takes faith to tap into that power instead of our own. It takes faith to believe.

Prayer

Dear God, help us to set our hearts on things above where Christ is seated at your right hand. (Colossians 3:1). Thank you, Jesus, for dying on our behalf. Please, increase our faith and help us not to doubt. Help us to trust your sovereignty and to surrender our power to your power. Enable, equip and empower us to be who you created us to be. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.