(Continued from part 1)
Most of us who live in Hawaii have racked up a whole lot of frequent flier miles going back and forth to the mainland. But with all of those flights, you’ve never gone up to the cockpit, knocked on the door, and demanded to interview the pilot about his training and experience flying this particular kind of airplane. You’ve never gone down to the tarmac to interview the mechanic, and make sure he put enough fuel in the plane to make it all the way to the mainland.
You’ve probably been to a lot of restaurants. But you’ve never barged into the kitchen and asked to see the expiration dates on the mayonnaise jars. You’ve never asked your waiter if he really washed his hands the last time he was in the bathroom.
In all of these situations, you’re putting your life in someone else’s hands. You’re living by faith. But it’s not blind faith and positive thinking.
You’re putting your trust in your airline pilot because you know he’s had to fly thousands of hours before he could even come close to getting you in the air. He’s proven himself over and over again, and if he can keep himself awake and his laptop closed, then there’s a 99.99% chance he’ll get you where you need to go without incident.
It’s the same in our relationship with God. He’s proven himself, first by his creation:
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:3)
He also proved himself in the lives of people throughout history:
By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. (Hebrews 11:4)
Cain just went and picked up whatever old rotten fruit he could find laying around, and threw it onto the altar to God. But Abel sacrificed the best animals he had, out of faith. Now here’s the tough part – even though he had faith, Abel still got killed.
That’s the fatal blow to the idea that faith means believing that everything’s just going to be OK. I’ve been to leprosy villages in China, where people have been shunned by their families and disowned by the government. Try telling a 12-year-old girl who’s missing her nose and hands, and will probably die alone, that everything will be all right if she just thinks positive!
Faith isn’t just some sunshine dream that everything will be all good. It’s a lot harder than that. Faith means believing that no matter what happens, God’s still in charge. And he’s still good. And he still loves us.