The Unreasonableness of Faith

BY FAITH it is said, in Hebrews 11, that the champions of faith existed. We wonder why there is such a fuss made until it is, we realise, we need faith to get through the toughest of times, the betrayal, or the rejection dealt our way.

Faith makes no sense to an unbelieving world. It may make little sense to us, also, even as we ply our faith in a situation of ridiculous calamity.

I’m mindful of a young man who had lost everything that ever meant anything to him; he lost everything overnight, literally. Somewhat a believer-of-convenience (a worldly Christian – if that’s not already an oxymoron!) this young man suddenly had nothing of meaning upholding him. He fell headlong for God, for God was his only option – at rock bottom. What could be an insult to God – that we only reach out, truly, when things have ended disastrously – doesn’t cater for grace. Grace makes faith the conqueror we need.

Suddenly, stricken, and somewhat bewildered as to what life had become – a sense of death experienced – even as life still was – this young man had no choice but to step each step; to take each day at a time.

When Life is Just One Thing At A Time

Faith is an unreasonable thing. It is a mystery flourishing with the need for hope – by credence of its being, by its very definition, hope is an invisible thing; a thing never proven, that which can only be believed in. It would not be hope otherwise.

When life – or a life situation – becomes so bleak, the only way through is by faith. The beauty of a lamentable situation is it takes us to the cusp of the faith experience. We would not know faith otherwise.

Faith is a must when pain bears down continually upon us.

Faith is a need as a vehicle of survival, from the basis of a crushing reality, and, out of that abyss, into a new field of hope, burgeoning with grace and joy.

Faith is unreasonable because it insists we follow God by the strictest necessity, by virtue that we have no option. Not many classify themselves as volunteers of belief. God has other ideas. We found we could do life no longer without God.

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At the time in our lives when faith becomes the only way we can survive, we suddenly understand it – it is unreasonable, demanding, unrelenting – but, nothing gets us through hellishness like faith. Once we’ve experienced faith, truly speaking, we’ll not return to life without God. The faith-way is just too fundamental. Faith works, especially as we look back, noting the faithfulness of God.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.