Everyday we hop on a train or a bus trusting that the driver whom we don’t know will get us to our destination. We don’t think twice about boarding a plane and flying half way around the world because we believe that the pilot has the right credentials. Down we plop ourselves into any chair expecting that the legs are sturdy enough to hold our weight, and when we walk into any building that looks like it was built correctly the thought of cave in never crosses our mind. Heck, we’re even sure that our banks will hold our money, make it grow, and not skip out of town with it.
We do all of these things because over time experience has ushered in a feeling of belief and security that the results will remain positive for the most part. All of us willingly rely on people we don’t know or even see every single day and yet when it comes to God a lot of us have silent reservations. Christians become voiceless on this subject in fear that they may be misunderstood or labeled as “not having enough faith”. Those who claim not to believe in God or organized religion are quick to denounce a belief based on observation, very seldom from experience.
Reality is that life brings us through a series of events that challenge us, force us to assess who we are, or make us undergo changes we often don’t want to make. Experience compels us to weigh our beliefs and make choices at times based on faith. When you look at the word faith (believing in what you can’t see), and begin to dissect what it means, somewhere in the mix comes up the word certitude. This wonderful word portrays an array of emotions. Yes emotions…you know feelings, sensations, passion…
First word associated with certitude is conviction. Did you know that conviction comes from strong persuasion? Next is sureness; also known as confident certainty. What I love about these last two words is that certainty on its own is based on evidence. However when you put the word confident in front of certainty, it emphasizes that there is no doubt in the evidence. None of us can get to a place of strong persuasion or no doubt unless we get there by experience.
Why is experience so important? When we participate, not just observe life’s events, it actually teaches us, and what we are taught affects us. It is so much easier in today’s age to intellectualize everything especially religion, but God is not about religion. Man created religion. God just wanted relationship, that’s all He ever wanted. He understood the importance of connection and the effect it has when nurtured. Trust, belief, expectation and sureness are part of our daily lives, but only grow because of the consistency in our encounters.
Not enough faith is an indicator of relationship with God with limited experience. Denial or no faith is a sign of knowing of God and having no relationship experience. So why remain voiceless or faithless when all that is needed is experience?
Faith in God is not intellectual. It’s a spiritual, relational experience that is individual.
We do all of these things because over time experience has ushered in a feeling of belief and security that the results will remain positive for the most part. All of us willingly rely on people we don’t know or even see every single day and yet when it comes to God a lot of us have silent reservations. Christians become voiceless on this subject in fear that they may be misunderstood or labeled as “not having enough faith”. Those who claim not to believe in God or organized religion are quick to denounce a belief based on observation, very seldom from experience.
Reality is that life brings us through a series of events that challenge us, force us to assess who we are, or make us undergo changes we often don’t want to make. Experience compels us to weigh our beliefs and make choices at times based on faith. When you look at the word faith (believing in what you can’t see), and begin to dissect what it means, somewhere in the mix comes up the word certitude. This wonderful word portrays an array of emotions. Yes emotions…you know feelings, sensations, passion…
First word associated with certitude is conviction. Did you know that conviction comes from strong persuasion? Next is sureness; also known as confident certainty. What I love about these last two words is that certainty on its own is based on evidence. However when you put the word confident in front of certainty, it emphasizes that there is no doubt in the evidence. None of us can get to a place of strong persuasion or no doubt unless we get there by experience.
Why is experience so important? When we participate, not just observe life’s events, it actually teaches us, and what we are taught affects us. It is so much easier in today’s age to intellectualize everything especially religion, but God is not about religion. Man created religion. God just wanted relationship, that’s all He ever wanted. He understood the importance of connection and the effect it has when nurtured. Trust, belief, expectation and sureness are part of our daily lives, but only grow because of the consistency in our encounters.
Not enough faith is an indicator of relationship with God with limited experience. Denial or no faith is a sign of knowing of God and having no relationship experience. So why remain voiceless or faithless when all that is needed is experience?
Faith in God is not intellectual. It’s a spiritual, relational experience that is individual.
