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Hebrews 11:1 NLT

'Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.'

I find faith fascinating and confusing in equal measure. It seems to be within reach and yet in practice demands that I stretch beyond what I know into what, or more precisely who, I believe in. Faith is the measure of my confidence in what or who I claim to hold as Truth. Who wouldn’t live by those self-evident truths they’ve chosen?

For many years I know that my measure of faith was located within my feelings. I would ‘sense’ God through my feelings during worship or in responding to the preacher’s message. I emerged from a Christian meeting using a language of feelings. I didn’t realise that such feelings could be responses to how I was responding to a whole set of different stimuli. No wonder when the wheels came off my life, no matter what the worship or who the preacher, I struggled to reach beyond my own very real feelings of pain and confusion.

Faith is firmly located in the reality of all I choose to believe. No one forces me to invest in such beliefs. They are my own choice. I cannot prove them beyond reasonable doubt, although I can point to their source, scripture, church tradition and the testimony of past and current Christian disciples. Each of these external proofs in and of itself can do no more than provide a reason for the faith I choose to hold. In taking critical decisions, it always remains my choice over the degree to which I place my confidence in what I hope for and cannot see.

So it is in my choices and the realities they produce that the character of God is revealed.. In making such choices I experience the squeeze. My mind informs me of what I think I need and can all too easily rob me of what I truly need. I discover I am at war within myself over the decisions that might best serve me in the process of Christian maturity.

QUESTION: Where do you see your life bearing fruit for God?

PRAYER: Lord, may the character you shape in me and the deeds you do through me bring you glory.