The Problem With Faith

 

What is the problem with faith? Why Christ kept on asking before healing somebody – “Do you believe in me?”

Faith in a person, including Jesus Christ, comes from trust. When we trust a person, we are entrusting our thoughts, our hopes and our doubts, to that person. In other words, we are giving up our self-reliance, and are putting our hope in the integrity of the other person’s character.

There is a risk in believing. When the level of our trust is great, the level of our dependence on the other person will also be high. We are playing with our own security, and are depending on the character integrity and dependability of another person.

We are shaped by our experiences. We see politicians who lie. We hear about pastors and priests, who fall in their walk with God. We hear about parents who do not care. We see collapse of financial institutions due to lack of accountability. We see unfaithful spouses. We live in the midst of a corrupted society, where we cannot trust the person next to us. We see religious people who are hypocrites. We are risking ourselves when we trust and believe in some one. Suspicion about another person’s intent is sometimes a protective instinct, particularly in our society. ‘

Jesus Christ is coming with a revolutionary proposition.“Trust in me”, he says. Trust in me, in spite of what you see around you. Trust in me, even when your life experiences have taught you to be careful in trusting another person. Trust in me, even when you do not see me. This call to believe in Jesus is a bold one. It is like swimming against a water current. People will think that you are naïve or foolish when you dare to trust in an unseen God.

I know a man who told me not to dare, when I jumped into the band wagon of Jesus. His argument was simple “when you risk too much your fall will be a big one. If you risk less, your fall will be a small one?” He is still comfortable. I am not comfortable in a material sense, but I dared to risk. Who has not paid a price for his belief? What is life with out belief? We will live in constant paranoia and fear, when we refuse to trust in God.

Look at the pages of history. You will see the story of many dictators, who killed thousands, because of their own fear. You will conquer fear, when you trust and believe in God. It may not be wise in the eyes of the world, but it will liberate your mind and soul from fear. Yes, you will pay a price. Yes, men of God will let you down, but the God of men will never let you down