Part 1
The Bible defines faith as belief in what we cannot see or clearly understand, and conviction that what we hope for will come to pass.
Amid affliction, we exhibit faith when we rejoice in God’s presence and exquisite fullness—that which we cannot see—even though we have misgivings about him.
We exhibit faith when we trust in the wisdom and logic of his grand plan—that which we cannot clearly understand—even when we dislike its details.
We exhibit faith when we rest in the knowledge that all the goodness we desire is waiting for us in heaven, even if it never materializes on earth.
Part 2
Faith in God is a choice, not a feeling.
It is a decision to rely on God, based on what he has revealed about himself in nature and in the Bible, not an affection that fluctuates with what we might infer about him from our momentary blessings or persistent adversities.
Steadfast faith is a series of grinding decisions to trust God, not an unwavering lightness or buoyancy.
Part 3
Faith in God is an active dependence on him, not a passive assertion about his dependability.
Claiming that our parachute has been properly packed is a passive assertion in the skydiving plane. Faith is jumping out the door into a free fall.
Declaring that God is good is a passive assertion when life is easy. Faith is believing him to be good when suffering abounds.
Part 4
The object of our faith is more important than its certitude.
It is better to have tenuous faith in the almighty God than unwavering faith in a lie. Jesus said that even a little faith in God is enough to move our personal mountains.
We can harbor doubts about God in times of distress and still exercise faith in him.
All we need to do is acknowledge our skepticism, then set it aside, take him at his word, and act accordingly.
The absence of doubt is not a prerequisite for faith in God, but a disregard for doubt accompanies our decision to trust him.
Part 5
Faith is to reborn believers what finding a second wind is to marathon runners.
Instead of quitting the race at the first sign of fatigue, marathoners continue running until renewed energy allows them to maintain the same pace with greater ease and less distress.
Amid affliction, faith sustains us through the resulting doubt and anger until our subjective feelings align with the objective evidence of God’s goodness and benevolence.
Part 6
We often exercise faith in everyday life.
We may not understand ergonomics, but we sit on chairs without checking whether they are structurally sound because we trust the expertise of furniture designers. That is faith.
We may not understand the interplay between aerodynamic and body forces, but we trust that Airbus engineers know how to balance lift, drag, and weight, so we fly in their planes. That is faith.
We may not understand how acetylsalicylic acid works in our bodies to reduce fever, pain, and inflammation. Still, we trust the knowledge and experience of the Bayer scientists who formulated it, so we use their aspirin without reservation. That is faith.
We may not understand why God allows us to suffer, but we know he exists and is present with us; he recognizes our plight and cares about us; he has the resources to help us; and he has promised to come to our aid.
Therefore, we trust he will help us endure our afflictions, produce goodness from them, and resolve them in accordance with his highest purpose for us and those in our orbit.
That is faith.
Part 7
By faith, we acknowledge that God’s highest purpose extends beyond the goodness of our present circumstances.
We agree that it also encompasses our understanding of his excellence and the effectiveness of our ministry, both now and in the future.
We accept that he may not answer our prayers for relief as we wish, but instead allow our suffering to continue so we can learn, through experience, that he is always good, even when we are distraught.
God may allow our misery to persist because he is using it to embed a unique message in our lives that he intends us to share with others.
He may allow our afflictions to endure so that he can produce goodness in the lives of those around us as they observe our response to suffering.
Part 8
Our faith in God wavers when he fails to meet our expectations.
But what underlies our disappointment? An uncaring God? An inept God? Or faulty expectations?
God’s promise to come to our aid in times of distress evidences his compassion. The brilliant design and sophisticated functionality of the universe attest to his competence.
Our distrust stems from faulty expectations rooted in an incorrect view of God and suffering.
Conversely, faith in God is the logical response to an accurate understanding of him and of his provision for affliction.
Part 9
Here are the primary reasons we distrust God. The paragraph titles link to other pages on this website with more details.
- Presence Of Suffering. If God is good, why does he allow us to suffer so much? Why does he not use his power and authority to make life easier? Suffering is a manifestation of evil, not evidence that God is untrustworthy or nonexistent. Evil exists because moral truth and our free will exist.
- Misunderstood Metaphors. God uses metaphors in the Bible to describe, in simple terms, how he relates to us personally. We will be disappointed if we expect him to embody every implicit nuance of these figures of speech.
- Unanswered Prayers. God tells us to pray continuously about all our concerns, but he grants only those petitions that align with his will. Since we cannot fully discern his will from our earthly perspective, we often ask him for things beyond his intentions. These unanswered prayers raise doubts about him.
- Misapplied Promises. We will be dismayed if we assume that the unique commitments God made in the Bible to certain people under specific circumstances always apply to us in situations of our choosing. Misapplying God’s general promises to all reborn believers can also create false expectations.
- Misconstrued Intentions. Sometimes we distrust God because we interpret his ultimate intentions through the lens of our current longings. We lose confidence in him when those immediate desires go unmet.
- Miraculous Expectations. Faith contingent on the occurrence of miracles risks disillusionment. God does marvelous things every day, but he chooses the nature, occasion, and beneficiaries of these wonders, not us.
- False Attribution. We are destined for disappointment if we expect God to direct us through signs, assurances, and coincidences routinely. This expectation creates the risk of mistaking everyday occurrences for his overt guidance, leading to poor choices that produce adverse outcomes he never intended.
- Unforeseen Outcomes. Following God’s clear direction does not always guarantee a good outcome, at least initially. His guidance sometimes leads us to arid deserts rather than to green pastures and still waters. These outcomes can diminish our trust in him.
- Self-Magnification. We are bound to be disappointed if we think we can impose demands on God. We are not his peers. He is our sovereign. He is not subject to our will. We are subject to his will.
- Transactional Entitlement. We will lose faith in God if we expect him to reward our righteousness with personal success, safety, and satisfaction. Our relationship with him is not transactional.
- Personal Iniquity. We will give up on God if we believe our unrighteousness means he is ineffective or nonexistent, that we are irreparably defective, or that this “God-thing” works for a select few but not for us.
- Hypocrisy. The unrighteousness of other reborn believers can distort our view of God and undermine our faith in him because his influence seems to have little bearing on their behavior.
- Unfairness Of Life. We will distrust God if we expect him to make life fair. Our lives are unfair because we are surrounded by the adverse consequences of wrong choices made by others, ranging from Adam and Eve to those currently in our orbit. Conversely, our mistakes contribute to the unfairness in the lives of those around us.
- Draconian Decrees. Some people distrust God because they dislike specific laws he established in the Old Testament and object to the severe penalties he imposed for violating them. These folks misread his purposes in issuing the Old Testament laws and overlook the grace and mercy he offered to violators who repented.
- Sanctioned Killings. Some people distrust God because they object to the killings in the Bible that he either initiated directly or ordered the Israelites to carry out. He sanctioned these killings to ensure the success of his salvation plan and to punish individual and corporate sin. He gave the victims fair warning of his impending judgment and ample opportunity to avoid it through repentance.
- Flawed System. Some of us question God because we mistakenly believe he set up a flawed system with inherent vulnerabilities that cause suffering. On the contrary, his system respects and preserves our volitional freedom.
- Divine Sexism. We may distrust God because we have been deceived into believing that he sanctions sexism and authorizes the subjugation of women. The truth is that men and women are equal in his eyes.
- Value Differences. Some of us reject God because we disagree with his moral values. We condone what he condemns. He draws distinctions we dispute. We elevate issues he considers secondary. He esteems what we deem disposable.
- Unequal Blessing. We may lose faith in God because he blesses reborn believers unequally. Some of us endure more distress than others. Our temporal needs are more persistent and acute, and we receive less relief. Others enjoy greater abundance than we do.
- Unjust Condemnation. Some people distrust God because they believe his salvation plan is unfair. If the only way to heaven is through Jesus, it seems grossly unjust for God to condemn to hell those who live and die without ever hearing about him. Fortunately, this is not the case. God’s salvation plan is fair to everyone.
