Completing Project MeSample

In What or Whom Does Your Faith Rest? 

Spoiler alert: we will not see the end until we are at the end ourselves. We will not find full resolution until all matters have been resolved. That is for certain. And yet, that is what most people want more than anything else. They want to experience the full resolution that cannot be experienced until the end. Don’t get me wrong—this is not a matter of having peace or not. One can have peace while waiting. We can have that along the way. God provides peace even when the end is far away and turmoil surrounds us. I am not speaking of contentment. Like Paul, we can learn to be content regardless of the circumstance (Philippians 4:11). 

Peace passes the test of authenticity when it’s maintained in the midst of difficulty. When turmoil swirls around and without resolution, a person can still be content. Contentment proves itself authentic when we are not getting our way. Yet, even those with a deep sense of peace and trust also pray for resolution to a crisis. They pray for a friend to find resolution to their heart’s cry. Even the content pray for help to finish what they’ve started and for health when things may not look good. 

However, many people, without knowing it, hold on to their faith in God only as long as they see God clearly coming through for them. In other words, their faith in God is less about God himself and more about his ability to produce. In those cases, faith often becomes more about resolution than God. Some people have faith in God only as far as they can see the possibility of resolution. For them, faith gives way to doubt, and they start wondering if God is really listening, really cares, or even exists if results are not forthcoming. Is their faith in God alone or faith in God that’s contingent upon the results he produces? If the latter, then we must also wonder if the faith is in God at all or in his proven performance.