“Now faith is being sure
of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
-Hebrews 11:1
“Faith,” wrote the Quaker
scholar Elton Trueblood, “is not belief without proof, but trust without
reservation.” Yet the fact is, faith seems to contradict the world of reality.
The saying goes, “Seeing
is believing” but in reality, believing is seeing. This is what Jesus taught in
John 10. It was part of a heated conversation Jesus had with some religious
leaders of the day who called Him “demon-possessed” (John 10:19). The people,
who had more spiritual insight than their leaders said, “These are not the
sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
(John 10:21).
Jesus said, “Believe the
miracles, that you may learn and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in
the Father” (John 10:38). Notice the progression of those three verbs which are
like steps to spiritual understanding: First, believe – then learn, then
understand.
We reverse it today.
First, we want to understand everything. We want proof. Only then are we
willing to believe. That’s our problem. Believing comes first, said Jesus. Then
knowing, then understanding.
In writing to the
Corinthians, Paul said, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things
that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corintihans
2:14).
Have you reversed the
order, insisting that you understand first, and then you will believe? Try it
the other way around. Believe, and with the step of faith will come knowledge,
then understanding. Believing is seeing!
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