02.13.09
A Thing Called Faith
It was when I woke up this morning that it began. I brushed my
teeth, put on my old robe, and walked out to either make coffee
or let the dogs out. These days, you never know which one will
be first. Dawna was already up, and as I walked into the living
room, she pointed towards the TV and told me that an airplane
had crashed last night in Buffalo, NY. I stood frozen, even trans-
fixed, watching video of the flames, just in the shock of another
tragedy. So many lives, extinguished in an instant. As always, I
wondered what the last moments of those poor people were like.
What were their last thoughts? It’s all just sad, and yet another
reminder of how fragile life really is.
I guess this will surprise no one, but what I do has required me
to fly a lot over the years. I just e-mailed my brother Lin about
this latest airline tragedy, and told him that while I’m not sure
how many hundreds, even thousands, of flights I’ve been on,
my total air miles is somewhere between 3.5 and 4 million. A
lot. It’s so unnatural, isn’t it, this flying? It’s probably good that
I don’t often stop to think about it…such a thin skin of alumi-
num the only barrier between us and the ether at 35,000 feet.
Our lives are literally in the hands of pilots whom we’ve never
met, and indirectly, in the hands of maintenance workers who
we’ll never meet. And yet, a number of times, the day after
(and a few times, even the day of) airline disasters, I’ve taken
my seat, buckled in, and trusted my life ultimately to the Lord,
but also into hands unknown to me. Why? It’s this business of
faith. A simple trust. But, a trust sufficient enough to allow
us to proceed, uncrippled by doubt.
When you think about it, we place trust in things and in people
every day that we live. We buckle our seat belts and drive our
cars without consciously thinking that we might be the next
statistics. Dawna and I both said “I do” and “Till death do us
part” never realizing that we’d live those words when our first
spouses died. We repeated them again, not knowing what our
future together holds! Many might wonder why….
I’ll often read about the Old Testament heroes whose lives
are reconsidered in Hebrews 11. They were ordinary men and
ordinary women, fraught with all of the weaknesses, doubts,
and questions of humanity. And yet, when God needed them
to, they accomplished extraordinary things for Him. While they
differed in many ways, this one thing they all had in common:
faith. A simple, consuming trust in God. He had spoken, their
part was only to obey. He made promises, they had only to
believe Him and His word. And while we all exercise faith on a
daily basis, their faith was unusual in its scope and complexity.
They’re forever honored for it too.
We still have no idea, of course, what caused the terrible dis-
aster last night, of Continental flight 3407. Some suspect that
icing on its wings will be the finding, others say maybe wind.
Regardless, around 50 people on the plane exercised faith,
and paid a heavy price. Many Christians have paid as high a
price for exercising faith…the martyrs’ blood is testimony
enough to that fact. So we might well ask “Is it worth it?”
The answer is a resounding YES! The Bible states that with-
out faith, it is impossible to please God. We can never exper-
ience salvations’ joys without first exhibiting faith. We can’t
know full victory in our Christian walk without faith. We’d
barely dare to walk through life itself without having a God
to trust in implicitly! Faith is one of God’s richest gifts to us.
And it’s also one of our greatest gifts back to Him. That sim-
ple, yet consuming trust in the God Who is, and Who loves
to delight us when we simply trust in Him and His word.
Over time, we’ll likely forget this tragedy to a degree, and
our lives will go on. We’ll still drive our cars, sit in airplanes,
make decisions, and, well, live. And all the way through it,
until faith gives way to sight, we’ll have a God Who watches
over us, Who has promised to walk alongside of us as that
“Friend Who sticks closer than a brother”. Underneath us are
Everlasting arms, and indwelling us is none other than the
Spirit of God Himself. We are surrounded by, and indwelt by,
the very God of the universe.
And suddenly, it becomes easy to yield to Him in faith. Thank
God for this thing called faith. It gives substance to things
hoped for, and is the evidence of things unseen. It provides
us a hope that will never let us down.
Blessings, my friends, and peace….His peace. All that it
takes to enjoy it all is faith.
Alan