Faith - No Mere Escape...

From primitive ancient relics to today’s impressive temples or cathedrals, there’s a common thread of faith - a spiritual instinct to reach beyond ourselves…

This instinct infuses our everyday routines as we interact with others, and as we rely on them when we face challenges or opportunities that are more than we can handle alone.

But since we cannot see everything that’s ahead, faith involves risks. People may let us down – just as we let ourselves down – or twists and turns may invade our natural expectations. Yet faith helps us to roll with such downturns and helps us to rebound afterwards.

Faith always feeds our hopes for better outcomes, so we don’t quit too soon - or conversely - blindly persist with lost causes. It also stabilizes our values, so we may stay focused and resist distractions.

The ancient world believed in distant gods with specific powers, but with no trust in each other, so they offered no consistent help. This allowed cynicism to dismiss faith as an escape from reality - a collection of vague belief systems or behavior codes that only exist if we believe in them.

Jesus came to reveal God’s nature. Up close and personal, here as one of us. Jesus taught how God works - despite family tensions, corrupt courts, dishonest accountants, farming difficulties, lost valuables, greed, labor disputes, racial prejudice, or business issues - so our challenges may not define us.

Despite growing up amidst national resentment over foreign rule, Jesus resisted any self-pity and brought hope, healing and new beginnings to social and religious outcasts. And despite being executed on false charges through the fearful resistance of powerbrokers, he came back with a greater power than theirs – enabling his followers to face death without being afraid.

God’s grace energizes faith to reveal more about life. For as he absorbs our guilt or shame, he affirms our value and gives us new purpose and direction. He also invites us to trust his priorities and his timing as he guides us through our challenges, so we may disarm our anxieties.

Better still, he shows us ways to encourage others, so they may also warm to God’s availability in their challenges. It’s not automatic or instantaneous, for we can always make mistakes, but even then, his acceptance and forgiveness reactivate us to keep on growing.

So, faith means much less escaping, and much more expanding.

Noel