This notion of "having faith" often does not sit well with me when I hear it from most people, including religious people. It has become sort of a religious cliché stripped of real meaning and power. In the face of a recent family challenge, in a moment when I was seeking God and He seemed to be absent, I gave the popular notion of faith a critical review. Obviously, the popular version of "having faith" was insufficient to lift me in that moment, but over the course of my critical review and analysis, I found myself moved to stand on a much stronger foundation. Thus, I share with you the fruits borne from this critical review.
Perhaps you've seen the people standing on the corners of the streets with their displays and pamphlets, looking to proselytize those to come their way. Perhaps you've be awakened by the doorbell as these same folks, well meaning as they may be, try to bring us to God by presenting their doctrine and giving persuasive speeches. Perhaps you've seen public figures, especially pop stars, wearing absurd amounts of jewelry, including bejeweled crosses, or even Stars of David, as they sing or rap about the most immoral acts, often dressed like thugs, pimps, and prostitutes.
No matter what people say, what jewelry, ornaments, or tattoos they adorn themselves with, or how they dress, true faith cannot be captured in a speech or token. True faith can only be revealed in one's actions. One professes his or her faith in how one lives--daily.
Let us anchor ourselves in the words of the prophet, Habakkuk.
Among religious folks, an excerpt of Habakkuk 2:4 is often lifted up to proclaim one's faith:
The Just shall live by his faith.
Even Paul used this prophetic utterance to encourage his followers on more than one occasion.
For many, faith is just a belief (perhaps fervent) in a doctrine or creed, in a custom or a tradition. But, for anyone who is sincerely striving for spiritual growth or righteousness, such ones will often discover that the things in which they believe will fail them or otherwise be insufficient in a time of great challenge.
All that is not true/eternal will eventually collapse and fade in the presence of real trouble and distress. Isaiah said it like this (chapter 40 verse 8), "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall stand for ever."
Anyone who has paid any attention at all in life has learned with increased certainty and intensity what faith is NOT. Faith is not your religious beliefs, no matter how strongly, fervently, or stubbornly you believe it. Faith is not the attire you wear to services (or every day, for that matter). Faith is not how well you recite doctrines and creeds, and not about much money you pay, how popular you are. Faith is not about how long your family or you have been members or a particular group or organization, it has nothing to do with what position(s) you may hold. Faith has nothing to do with how pious you behave in public or about how many people you proselytize.
Faith is not about how many scriptures you've memorized, or how many sins you can enumerate for another. Faith is not even about the routine performance of spiritual practices, including prayer, fasting, and scripture reading, if those things are done by rote or so that we can simply check them off of a to-do list.
Faith is revealed in how we press on, even when we don't see the way, it is how we keep doing right when it doesn't gain us friends, positions, power, or money (and perhaps even earns us ridicule). Our faith is put on display when we don't have the answers, but we still live as if God will make a way. Faith manifests when we hold it together when we know that God CAN deliver, but hasn't guaranteed that He WILL deliver.
In short, faith is not what we say, what we know, or what we believe. Faith is what we DO, consistently, every day. The crux of the matter is this: if we believe a thing to be true, then we will act, behave, and live as if that thing is true, regardless of what we see or don't see. The reality that we experience will prove to us whether our faith is well-founded.
Even the atheist or agnostic has faith, e.g. in a chair, for example, that it will hold him up. So, he approaches it and sits down without a second thought.
We tend to believe in our own power, either our physical power, our influence, our money. It is easy for us to put our faith in these types of things because they are tangible. We can touch them, feel them, assess their "realness"...
We tend to believe that when the events of life are proceeding in a manner that makes us feel good and comfortable, when our needs are met, when our bank account is full, our health is vibrant, and our mood is happy, that our faith is well founded. But, when the winds of life buffet us, when the waves of life crash over us and drench us, when the fires of life threaten to consume us, we lose faith in our FAITH!
In such situations, whether we're being persecuted, whether our funds have dried up, whether our health is strained, whether our heart is broken, when we've run out of answers, when we can't see the way, our faith often seems weak or even non-existent. But contrary to popular belief, it is in times like these that our faith is the most evident, being less obscured by the trappings of life. In other words, if we live according to the principles of our faith (i.e. righteousness) when things are not going well, then we really mean it! This is what it means to live by faith.
When there is no reward evident in the doing of good, we show that we are doing it because we believe it is the right thing to do.
Spiritual teachings and truths from the Bible are eternal, but often times, there is no tangible manifestation of these truths; or more precisely, there isn't a tangible manifestation that we expect. God has promised to bless those who serve Him in spirit and in truth, has promised to bless those who live righteously, who clothe the naked, feed the hungry, who keep the Commandments. But, there are no stipulations as to how or when those blessings will come, and there are no guarantees of things going our way, of fairness, ease, etc. in the meantime.
For those of us who strive for that mark of a higher calling, it is incumbent upon us to love God and keep His Commandments daily. In good times and in bad times, in times of comfort or in times of stress, in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of happiness and in times of despair, our faith tells us to love God and keep His commandments. Our faith tells us to do right, regardless of our condition or circumstance.
Thus, let us all strive to value and embrace everyday faith... doing right every day, treating others as we'd like to be treated--every day, living as if God is present and watching us every day; not in a punitive way, but in a very present helpful way. As dreadful as these days are now, we need the LORD more than ever!
Perhaps we, like Habakkuk, have had enough, as we're standing upon our watch, waiting to see how and when the LORD will reward the wicked. But, just as the LORD said to Habakkuk, to those who wait upon God, to those who treat their neighbor as themselves, to those that steer clear of sin--the Just shall live by his faith--every day.
