That’s what we have in Christ. A sound assurance of a real thing–faith that is based not on myth, but on events. Faith that rests on the work of Another, Jesus, and goes deep into our bones, actually waking them up and putting flesh on them and assembling them into a body, a bride.
This deep-into-my-bones faith is unflappable. Not because I’m unflappable in my personality or wiring, but because the object of my faith–it’s Founder and Perfecter is unflappable, unchangeable and utterly peaceful.
When God called me through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, He didn’t give me a better personality. He gave me flesh and heart. He didn’t give me a new outlook on life. He gave me a life. Faith in Jesus isn’t a tweak on my personality, it is His death for my death and His life for my life.
Faith in the Son means death and resurrection, for Him and for me. It means dry bones being raised up and given a name.
Even a weak faith can be unflappable. A weak faith sustained by the Word of His power is unflappable. It survives amid the tumult of the soul and the voices that seem to want to stamp the flicker out of existence. So, I take heart and courage, that it is the object of our faith that makes it solid. It is the reality that is believed in that makes our faith more than wishful thinking.
My faith and the grace that I received through Jesus is as real as the water that dripped down my face at 15 years old when I plunged into waters of baptism. It is as present and near as the bread and the cup that I taste in my mouth at the Lord’s Table.
Strong faith in something make-believe is piteous. Faith in an idol, made with human hands, however strong and self-assured that faith is, effects nothing. But a weak faith in the real and saving YHWH is worth more than any earthly thing.
What can I do when I’m weak in faith? Stop looking at my weak faith and keep looking at it’s Founder and Perfecter. Quit talking about my faith and look at the cross and empty tomb (and here I am talking about talking about faith, hello irony!). Stop agonizing over my weakness and being troubled by its presence and keep gazing at and proclaiming His Gospel of grace and peace through Jesus. There is peace in the soul for those weak in faith–unflappable peace, because it was founded by the Prince of Peace before the foundation of the world. That’s a truth to hang everything on. A truth to actually have, not just talk about. Thank you Lord, for your peace.
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
(1 John 5:1-5 ESV)
