Faith is Ridiculous

     Hello everyone! To get right into it, I realized that last week I gave you an idea of what I was planning for the next couple of weeks but never actually mentioned the subjects. Before I go into my first topic today, I figured I would mention what I'm going to be writing about. These are in no particular order and I might combine some of these later, as several go hand in hand. They are: Faith, Dating, Self-Love, Family, Learning, Social Media, Ministry, Money, Friends, Attitude, Vision, Craft, and Physical. These were hard questions to think about. When someone asks, "how are you?" we tend to give, simple, often generic answers based on our general wellbeing. These caused me to dig a little deeper, to think about where I am in my life. We all have certain areas of our lives that are doing better than others. This is okay, that's how life works, but I want to keep this in mind in my future actions and interactions. I think everyone wants to succeed in all areas of their life but it's hard to think about, let alone work on, everything all at once.

    Today, I want to talk about faith. In some ways, that's what this entire blog is about. I write about it all the time and it's one of those things that's familiar so I don't really think about it. I gave myself a pretty low score here because, I have faith, that much I know, but it's become stagnant. I'm not growing it or practicing it. And it's such a big thing to talk about to. Faith is defined as having complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Everyone has faith in something but I do want to focus on the religious side of it, as that's how this question was directed. 

    Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is the assurance of things you have hoped for, the absolute conviction that there are realities you've never seen." Faith begins as hope. It's invisible and intangible and remarkably frustrating. My mom is really big into apologetics so belief in God as someone who exists, who created everything, is easy. I think it takes more faith to be an ashiest and believe that the world came from nothing but I suppose that's a different topic. It's easy for me to believe in God's existence but no matter how many times I write about it, I still tend to doubt His character. This world is a disaster, there's no denying that, and I don't understand why bad things have to happen. I don't understand why there's still so much brokenness. As human beings, we have such a great capacity for hope, we all want things to work out for the best and I do too but there's always doubt. How could all of this be fixed? Is there actually a calling on my life, a purpose, and can I actually do it? I believe these things because I have to hope that there is more, that God's love is true, otherwise what's the point? If there's no redemption for anything or anyone, then we live only to die and our lives are meaningless, pointless. My problem comes in believing that God has what's best for me. Fear is stronger than my faith, more often than not, and it is frustrating. I'm scared of what faith might require of me so I choose fear instead.

    Faith requires you to do ridiculous things and it's awkward, it doesn't make sense to our human natures. It's planting a seed and waiting for a garden. Walking around a city for seven days doesn't make sense (Joshua 6). A boy fighting a giant doesn't make sense (1 Samuel 17). Going before a king who could kill you just for being there is ridiculous (Esther 4). A baby being born of a virgin is ridiculous (Luke 1). Dying on a cross to save people who refuse to love you is ridiculous (Luke 23). But that's what faith is. It's the hope that God's faithfulness is bigger than ours could ever be. It's doing what scares you and what doesn't makes sense because of a promise for something greater. It will always be ridiculous until it's miraculous, until it works. We see in the bible that God proves Himself over and over again. I still have a lot of fears, doubts, and questions, but if I didn't, I wouldn't need faith. 

    So, how do we practice this? How do I practice this? Reading my bible is the simplest. It's easy to have faith in what we don't know when we build on a foundation we do know. If I know God's character and His faithfulness, it's easier to have faith that He will keep the promises He's made. This week, find a bible plan, long or short, and stick to it as best as you can. A lot of Christians have a quiet time where they just set aside a period of time, either first thing in the morning or before bed, and they will read their bible, pray, and listen to what God might have to say. I understand being busy and getting distracted but you always have pockets of time to be still and shift your focus. I like my sleep. I don't want to get up early or stay up late but you can always find at least ten minutes of free time. Ridiculous can be small too. I do believe that faith is grown. God knows what you can and can't handle. He won't ask you to do something that you aren't ready for and if He does, He won't let you do it alone. Do what you can do. You are still becoming and facing our fears, fighting battles that are hard, will only make us better and stronger. I know how hard it can be to believe in something unfathomable but I need this hope, I think this world does too. It's so wonderful to believe that someone does love me beyond any reference I have and give me grace beyond anything I deserve. Faith is ridiculous and no matter how small yours may feel, fight for it. Fight for what you believe in, no matter what it looks like, because it is worth it.

Yours Truly,

Rey