FAITH

Faith has too often been described as a 'leap in the dark'. It is as though faith was something you use when you run out of good reasons. Sometime you hear people say: 'If you could prove the existence of God you wouldn't have to exercise faith!' All this makes faith sound stupid, wreckless and, above all, irrational.

If this definition of faith is right then the original disciples of Jesus could not have had faith in him because they actually saw him alive after he had risen from the dead! More than that, they had seen all his miracles, so they knew his power and they had heard all his teaching, so they knew his authority. If faith is a leap in the dark then Jesus had completely blown it for the disciples—he had given them too much evidence!

Clearly the disciples had lots of good reasons to trust Jesus. In fact the disciple Thomas was so hard headed that he said that he would not believe unless he put his finger into the nail holes in the hands of Jesus and the spear wound in the side of Jesus! Jesus let him do this and Thomas was convinced.

Evidently to have faith does not mean that you must put your brain into neutral. To have faith does does not mean that you must jump into the dark without having good reasons. To have faith does not mean that you base your life on wishful thinking and ignore the evidence. Quite the contrary, many people have come to faith in Jesus by examining the evidence, just as Thomas did.

So what is faith? Faith is about trust and commitment. When I fly I can look at the evidence to assure me that plains really do take off and carry people safely to far off destinations. But if I am to experience flight I have to take a step of trust and commitment (faith) and put myself in a plain. Whilst I am on the ground I can fully believe in flight. Faith starts when I act on that belief and step onto my first plain.

The same is true of our relationship with Jesus. We may believe the whole Jesus story: but faith only starts when we trust him and commit to him. So do your homework, find out all you can about Jesus, come to a mature belief based on reason – this is a good thing to do. But, when you get to the point where you believe you will find that you still have a step of faith to take, namely, to give yourself to Jesus and receive him as your saviour and lord.

DOUBT

The writer Hallisby, in a book called 'Why I am a Christian' points out that there are two kinds of doubt. There is the sort of doubt which is a source of pain and anguish. This is sincere doubt because this person is honestly looking for answers.

However there is another kind of doubt, a convenient doubt. This kind of doubt is a tactic to avoid coming to a conclusion. This person secretly fears having all their questions answered because then they could no longer hide form the point of decision – the step of faith!

If you have 'convenient doubt' let me reassure you: in this world we will never answer any question fully and absolutely. If you want to avoid following where the evidence leads you will always be able to find objections. However, you will never 'fly'!

If you have 'sincere doubt' let me reassure you. Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8, NIV).

In light of this, it is important to be honest with yourself about which sort of doubt you have!