Obedience

We’ve been looking in the last few weeks at different ways we can come to faith. Sometimes it is through the Word of God found in the Holy Scriptures. (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Sometimes we find our faith deepens when we study how the text has been preserved and is supported by history. (Luke 1:1-4). Sometimes our faith is able to grow because we have surrounded ourselves with loving and faithful people that encourage us and care for us. (John 13:35).

I believe God is working in all of these ways and more to help bring people back to Him. (John 6:44).

However, in each of these cases, we must remember that faith takes time to grow. (1 Corinthians 3:6-8). We must therefore encourage one another to continue to grow in the faith and these sorts of external evidences concerning the preservation of the text or the witness of history gets us only part of the way there. Faith is a deeper connection to the Spirit of God, God the Father, and God the Son than what the pages of history, broken pottery, clay tablets, and carvings can provide. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1).

Growth brings questions, and these are to be encouraged. Truth has nothing to fear from inquiry. Jesus wasn’t afraid of questions and He was ready to show the truth in His return after His death. We read about this in John 20:24-29. The disciples believed but had doubts. The disciples had faith and also questions. The disciples trusted God, but they didn’t know what was next. They waited for Jesus and they believed. Thomas, sometimes famous for “doubting”, makes one of the most powerful confessions concerning the nature of Jesus: “Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”” (John 20:28).

The disciples were blessed to be able to see and touch and hear for themselves. Jesus says as much of a blessing that was, we have a greater blessing: “Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”” (John 20:29).

Jesus loves you and cares for you. He wants your faith to be real, to be deep, and to be strong enough to withstand the storms of life. Faith grows not only in investigation, but more so in trusting God. Some today struggle to accept the Bible as the word of God, as containing the words of life, as showing us the path for the best way to live, and as revealing His Son to us. Some today struggle because some things don’t quite make sense to them yet. Faith means trusting God with your today, knowing that God will give you a better tomorrow. Faith means working through your questions. Faith means we obey when we don’t yet fully understand but we know enough to trust in our God, that He loves us and He wants what’s best for our lives.