I recently heard a fascinating conversation between a man and woman I know that had to do with faith.
One of the main subjects both of them touched on was that whether or not a person fully recognizes it or accepts it, many things in their life require faith. That got my mind moving, as there’s nothing but truth in that idea.
The dictionary.com description of faith is “confidence or trust in a person or thing.”
There are several references to faith in the Bible, with the classic being Hebrews 11:1, which says faith “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
So basically, faith is hoping something will happen or not happen (depending on the circumstances) and trusting that a person or thing will bring about the desired result. I don’t know what the percentage might be, but a significant portion of a human being’s daily life consists of actions or activities that involve such hope and trust.
And many times, that hope and trust is pretty much directed toward or focused on something that’s assumed or taken for granted.
Think about it; driving a car, for example, requires multiple forms of faith, like hoping the vehicle starts when you turn the ignition key, hoping the tires remain inflated while rolling down a roadway, and most importantly, trusting that other drivers in your vicinity do their part to keep you and them safe.
Faith is something we don’t consider often, but it’s everywhere.
When you turn on the faucet at the kitchen sink, you have faith that water will flow.
When you have automatic deposit of your paycheck from work, you have faith that the money will actually be there when you expect it to be.
When you buy food from a grocery store, you hope and trust that it won’t be incorrectly labeled, rancid or laced with some sort of dangerous additive. Likewise, when you order food at a restaurant. You hope it will be correctly prepared and assume there won’t be anything wrong with it.
When you send a text to someone, you hope it will reach the intended recipient, and you trust the message they receive will be the same one you actually sent.
When you make a major decision, you hope it’s right and trust it will help or improve whatever is meant to be helped or improved.
Even the air we breathe; you can’t see it, but you have faith that it will always be there to keep you alive.
Really, faith is just an integral part of human existence, and I really don’t think life would be possible without it.
Something else that was pondered during the conversation is how a lot of people have faith in all kinds of nonsense and far-fetched proclamations and declarations instead of simply believing in the sovereignty of God. As the man in the conversation stated, it seems much more logical – and even easier – to put faith in God rather than all the absurd and silly ideas and claims designed to circumvent His status as the creator and overseer of everything.
As a professed realist and one who leans toward that which makes sense, I have no problem having faith in that.