Losing Faith

It's another Gilmore Girls evening for me.

 

In the episode I've just been watching, one of the characters fears that she has lost her faith, so her friend goes round to give it back to her.

 

It's an interesting concept: losing your faith.

 

No matter what we believe, there are always moments when we question our beliefs.  There are moments when we wonder if what we believe is really true, when we doubt ourselves and our faith.

 

But doubt is not the opposite of faith, or the absence of faith.  It is an integral and inseparable part of faith.

 

In fact, even if you lose faith in something and stop believing it, you will unintentionally and automatically start believing in something else.  We all have faith in something: God, religion, science, nature, ourselves ...

 

Faith is believing in things that we can't see, or don't know for sure.  If it could be proved indisputably, it would be fact.

 

The Bible says,

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

 

[Hebrews 11:1 NIV]

 

Doubting is not the absence or loss of faith, but rather the strengthening of it.

 

Without questioning and doubting and wrestling, our faith never grows or develops.  It is through this doubting and refining and redefining that our faith is strengthened.

 

We cannot have faith without doubt. 

 

 

The Frustrations Of Unpredictable Weather

I have found the inconsistencies and unpredictabilities of the recent weather forecasts irritating.  Where snow is concerned, I want to know if I can get excited about it or not.

 

I'm not interested in "maybe" or "possibly" so far as the weather is concerned.  I don't want a percentage of the likelihood of snow or rain or sleet.  I want the actual facts.  I want to know what to expect.

 

Guessing is no use to me.

 

It's a bit like in one of Michael McIntyre's sketches where he says how whenever you ask someone for the time, if they don't know, they will still guess.  I think it's about three.

 

He says, I didn't ask you to guess the time.  I can do that myself.

 

Similarly, I don't need a weather forecast to guess the weather.  I can do that myself.

 

I appreciate that predicting the weather isn't that straightforward or predictable, so no matter how much I want to know for definite what the weather is doing, that won't happen.

 

Still, it would be useful wouldn't it? 

 

You'd know what shoes/coat to wear.  You'd know whether to bother straightening your hair or, more importantly, not to waste time straightening it if it is soon to face the rain.

 

It would make planning for life much easier.

 

But unfortunately, it is not possible.

 

I suppose the weather forecast is an act of faith: will we believe it or not? 

 

Similarly, our walk with God is an act of faith: I don't always know what's going to happen in my life.  I am not perfectly prepared for every eventuality.  But I don't need to be when I'm trusting in God.

 

Faith isn't so much about what you can see, but about what you choose to see and about who you trust to show you.

 

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

 

[Hebrews 11:1 NLT]
 

I will never get the perfect weather forecast that tells me exactly what I want to know.  There will always be an element of faith and trust involved.  And, this side of heaven, I will never get to know for sure what God is planning on doing in my life - I will never have the perfect 'life forecast'. 

But whilst I don't know what might happen, I know the One who knows.  And that's enough for me.