Faith
“Faith means receiving God, it means being overwhelmed by God. Faith helps us to find trust again and again when, from a human point of view, the foundations of truth have been destroyed. It gives us eyes to see what cannot be seen, and hands to grasp what cannot be touched, although it is present always and everywhere.”—Eberhard Arnold in Why We Live in Community (Plough, 2014).
Faith is believing in something we cannot see or understand. The mind takes us to a certain level of belief; but then faith must be present for us to take the leap from there. My favorite quote about faith, attributed to a multitude of people, is: “The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty.” If we are so certain about something, we have crossed back over that line, away from the place where faith abides.
This gives all of us doubters great comfort. In fact, we know that our doubts lead us into a deeper faith—across the line, down new pathways, sometimes even onto major highways. We may take a wrong turn, or run a red light and hit someone, or just become completely lost. Then that stranger who met us on the road to Emmaus shows up. He may remind us of a quote from Scripture that had been meaningful to us in the past. He may ask us if we remember how we have been cared for continually by the God of our understanding, as well as by God’s stand-ins, our community and friends. He always feeds us exactly what we need to continue the journey; and before he disappears, he leaves on the dinner table a GPS.
Joanna. Joannaseibert.com