Faith

God has been showing me a lot about faith lately. I have always looked at those I admire for their faith and think (absurd) things like, “wow, look how faithful she is! She doesn’t even have to try!” Of course that’s a totally logical assumption to make about someone that I know very little about.


Ahem. Right.


I realize that I’ve been very guilty of wanting God to just pour that person’s mind-boggling faith in to me while I just sit still and do nothing about it myself.


Imagine waking up one morning and deciding you’re going to get strong. Get pumped up. Grow those muscles. And then you proceed to sit on your couch, arms spread wide open, waiting for your biceps to explode in Hulk-like fashion. I don’t know this first-hand (hi, have you met me and my spaghetti arms?) but I’ve been told that people go to this gym place daily. They work out. The lift weights. They essentially tear about their muscles, and then their amazing God-given bodies know how to repair and rebuild these injured muscles, making them stronger. Wash, rinse, repeat. Dedication and hard work make muscles happen.


Or imagine a high school senior deciding he’s going to be this year’s valedictorian. He imagines himself delivering an awe-inspiring and tear-jerking message to his peers at their commencement service. He will wear a rainbow of tassels around his neck as he walks across the graduation stage, a walking advertisement of his multiple achievements during his high school career. This is the story that fills his head daily as he goes to school…and does nothing. As he comes home from school daily and chooses video games over studying. He can’t wait to show up as valedictorian but he’s not willing to put in the work. It’s just not going to happen without daily choices and follow up actions that match those decisions.


Now think about your faith. It’s an attainable goal – living a faith-filled, faith-driven life. We actually can walk by faith and not by sight. But it’s most likely not going to happen simply because you want it to. Faith requires day-to-day decisions to be made! Am I going to listen to my emotions/my peers/the world about this challenge, or am I going to entrust it to the God who knows me, who sees me, who loves me immensely? Am I willing to be fully confident in God even though I can't see Him? If I'm honest, some days living by faith seems more like an hour-by-hour choice.


Is my faith this way because God has failed me? Because He’s not powerful enough to give me faith beyond understanding?


Absolutely not.


When I feel like my faith has been knocked down a few notches, it’s because I’ve been the one doing the knocking. I can know 100% of the right answers and wholeheartedly believe them, but if I don’t make the conscious decision to act on my beliefs with my faith leading me through the darkness, where does that leave me?


Right where I started. Simply holding down the couch with my arms spread open, waiting for God and hoping he’ll just serve me my faith right off of a shiny silver platter.


Faith requires choice. It requires actions. We are responsible for our faith on a daily basis. I've been working to remember this - that when I feel a lack of faith, if God ever feels distant, it's because I am not holding up my end of the relationship. God will never leave us or forsake us, and I pray we can return that kind of love and commitment to Him!