Pondering His Holy Word

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrew 11:1) 

Babies are amazing creations of God and they are very funny to watch especially when they are learning to walk. I’d be the first one to admit that it is amusing to watch as they begin to take their first steps. When things get too shaky, they plop down on their bottoms and either try again or revert back to crawling. In the early points of learning to walk, it is easier to crawl than it is to walk at least in the beginning.

One thing, I’ve never seen babies do is lose trust in the ground where they stand or crawl. Even, with the stairs, toddlers stay low to the ground and climb up with both hands and feet and climb down with feet and hands without ever questioning the ground underneath them

In my 40 years, that trust in the ground never went away. I am aware that gravity pulling 300 pounds (give or take). Yet, even knowing such truth, I trust that the ground is not going to give way. There are incidents of sinkholes and earthquakes, but even in places that are susceptible to such events, people confidently walk on solid ground. Even, if we trip on a crack or slip and fall on ice (happens multiple times during winter), we trust the ground enough to put our entire weight on it. This confidence developed long before we were aware of ourselves. Even though I’m not a scientist or is able to explain the science of solids, I am confident it will not give way underneath me. Even when it is pitch black outside and I cannot see the ground, I trust that I am walking on the ground. 

Faith is a gift from God that allows you to trust in something evident, but not yet seen or completely understood. During the middle of the night, when the night is its darkest, you know that the sun will rise again. Sometimes the skies can be cloudy for weeks at a time, yet we know that the sun will shine again because its light is still seen through the clouds.  Even, in the dead of winter, (even though there are bunnies hoping and squirrels scurrying), we know that the spring will return, the snow will melt, and the green will return. 

We know this truth because God revealed Himself in seasons and days through His general revelations. Our reliance on God’s general revelation is evident in man’s creations such as hospitals, schools, roads, ships, airplanes, and everything that we create.  We rely on the general revelations of God to understand these things otherwise unknown to us. A person may insist they are an atheist or agnostic but it is evident that they believe in a higher power due to their reliance on God. They place their faith in the reliability of the seasons, climates, the reliability of day and night, and the low and high tides. “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceive, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” (Romans 1:19-20). Whether they acknowledge it or not, they can perceive the reliability, and stability of God’s attributes because He displayed these and many attributes in the world around us so that we “are without excuse”. (Romans 1:20). 

God also revealed Himself in history in the special revelation of the Holy Bible. Also, He is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, God incarnate who entered world history. Having been born of the virgin Mary, adopted by Joseph, Jesus lived a righteous life, a righteousness that can only come from God. He was delivered to the Romans, by His countrymen, and was crucified and buried.  Then, He rose on the third day. 

Christians have confidence in this revelation because He revealed Himself, post-resurrection to His disciples who believed him, His brothers, James and Jude, who did not initially believe him. Then, He revealed himself to Saul of Tarsus, who not only disbelieved in Him but, he was an early persecutor of the Church before he was converted (Acts 9). 

These hopes are not something to fail-safe us on the judgment day. We have the same confidence in Jesus that we have in His general revelation. We have the same confidence in Christ that allows us to put all of our weight on the ground beneath us and walk even at night. We walk by this faith because it is evident although we have not seen His face or heard His word with our own ears, but we believe because we trust in the reliability of His witnesses of those who wrote of the four accounts of His life in the Gospels. 

Faith, to go back to the earlier analogy, is trusting the ground that can hold your weight and walking with that knowledge even if you don’t understand everything about the ground and how it was created. Faith in Jesus is having confidence in hearing and reading (in scripture) what is evident about His life, death, and resurrection and having confidence in God’s promise to redeem us and continue to bring His good work to completion on the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).