This month at actionchurch we’ve been exploring the idea that “Religion Gives true and false answers to life’s multiple choice questions.” On this Tuesday morning, that statement seems more relevant than ever.
So much of Church and Religion is about asking people to check the box that they have “faith in God”. The real question that so many of us ask though, is “Does faith work?” Does having faith in God actually change anything? Will having faith make a difference in our day to day lives?
As I write this, my father in law Phil is being prepped for cancer surgery. I hope you’ll pray for him, my wife Michele, and our family in general. We have faith that God is in control…we trust that although this would definitely not be any part of “our plans”…it is part of his plan.
The question is though, “Does faith work?”. Will our faith make a difference in this situation? Obviously, if Faith in God is supposed to be some sort of “magic charm” to protect us from “trouble”- it’s already failed. During our faith journey as a family, we’ve experienced health troubles, marriage troubles, car troubles, financial troubles, death, injury, and pretty much every “trouble” except for the plague of Locusts. :-) So why would we still believe that faith “works”? Why do we still try to influence as many people as possible that having faith in God is the very best way to live?
Faith works, because even in trouble, we have peace and hope! Troubles will come. The point of faith is choosing who/what you will depend on when troubles come. Will you depend on luck? Fortune? Yourself? Chance? Family? Friends? Or the Creator and keeper of the universe…
8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. II Cor. 4:8-9
Faith works.