We believe for, but do we believe in?
This is a question I’ve been pondering in the last week. Let me explain what the question is asking. Do we, as Christians, believe for? For a better job, for a better marriage, for more money, for better health? Or do we believe in? In God, in His promise, in His protection, in His unwavering love?
This is not a simple question. It requires us to dig deep into the motivation behind our faith. Do we believe because doing so means God will give us what we want (we euphemistically refer to this as His blessings upon us)? Is our love for God based on His answering our prayers the way we want him to? On bringing the results we expect?
If so, our faith is for things we want, not in God to do the right thing, the thing we really need. We’re guilty of this when we make statements like, “I have all this faith in God, so why is my marriage falling apart?” or “I pray to God every night, but I’m still stuck in this horrible job!” When we say this, we are vacillating between belief and unbelief. We are looking for signs to confirm our faith rather than truly believing that God has our backs.
True faith is seeing God as bigger than any struggle we are dealing with. That’s hard to do for a number of reasons. When we are struggling, we usually can’t see beyond that struggle. We are in pain, suffering, seeking health, and sometimes not seeing a way out. So, as Christians, we pray. But then we expect an answer. Right now.
We live in an instantaneous world, one where we expect immediate results. We have grown impatient, and that extends to God. We ask why, when, how? And when the answer comes – as it always does – it may look nothing like what we requested. That’s because the healing God brings us is according to His plan, not our own. True faith is accepting that, even being grateful for it because we know that it’s according to His promise.
It’s not up to us how God chooses to fulfill His promises to us. The foundation of our faith requires us to accept that.
We must worship in the midst of chaos and sickness. We must keep our faith not in what we think the promise should be, but in the promiser Himself. Whatever God allows, he has a plan for, and we need to submit to that plan.
