Have faith?

Hello to the person reading this. Happy new year! I hope that you had a wonderful festive season and that you feel refreshed and rested. I’m truly sorry if you’re still tired, I feel you, but we move. Anyway! Today I’m starting with a new series of blogs, I think it’s gonna be SUPER COOL! so strap in.

I want us to take a look at a really significant religious word. The word in question is faith. Faith means a lot of things to a lot of people, but I think a common definition or common elements we can agree on is that we see faith as a belief in our head (and hearts depending on who you are) that is central to our lives. Especially our moral values.

But I think that this view of faith is a bit limited and I’m hoping that this year we can take a deeper look at what faith is.

The Hebrew word (yes another Hebrew word) for faith is really interesting. The word is Emunah. It’s a word I’ve explained before. It doesn’t talk about a head or heart belief at all. In English it means “to build up or to support.” Which I truly think is a beautiful take on what faith actually is. Faith is not (only) a belief or the driving force behind our moral/ethical decisions, faith is a relationship. And relationships last because we build up or support those we are in relationship with. To support a being is to have faith in a being.

What this then means is that faith is not an isolated decision or belief, faith is a journey. And that Is what we’re trying to highlight on the podcast (tune in every Wednesday!) I think that in our moments of doubt or crisis, we can be really harsh on ourselves and each other and we can question if we’ve ever had faith at all. But that very question flies in the face of what is at the heart of faith. One of my favourite authors Pete Ens captures it really well In his book “The Bible Tells Me So” he says something really profound. He writes; “In the spiritual life the opposite of fear is not courage, but trust.” I think that this is it. It’s never really been about our courageous work, it’s always been about who God is. The journey of faith, because faith is a journey, is about trusting that God will support us, and then in response supporting him. Just like any relationship.

The tragic pattern that plays out the most in the Bible though is that we don’t trust that God will support us, so we simply respond by supporting ourselves at the expense of others and God. The Lord wants to bless us, but we don’t believe that or at least we don’t believe in his version of blessing. So we play out this pattern, where we repeatedly plot and scheme to secure blessing for ourselves instead of trusting God and extending his blessing to the people around us.

It doesn’t have to be this way and I think that’s at the core of the faith Journey. God wants good for us, so we don’t have to secure good for ourselves.

I hope that this can be the year that we help you realise this and I hope that God can reveal that to you on your journey this year. And may God have mercy on us as we journey with him this year.

Until next time! As always, back yourself, trust God, and may you thrive in your life and in your faith.