Because Of Faith

Because of Faith

Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over. Mark 5:34

MANY OF US HAVE AN INNER THEOLOGIAN who demands precision and voices objections to people’s statements about God and truth. That persistent voice bristles at passages like this. “No, Jesus,” we want to say, “faith didn’t make that lady well. You did.” We want to take the emphasis off of a human response and make this healing glorify God rather than faith itself. And when Jesus disagrees with our inner theologian—when his own words defy our definitions of how God works—we have a bit of a problem.

Jesus’ words created problems for a lot of theologians in his day too. If we entered into a discussion with him about this particular statement—how perhaps he should have worded it a little differently—he might even affirm some of our understanding about the priority of the power of God over the power of faith. Yet his words were no accident. He wanted to emphasize faith here. Why? Because it’s a really big deal. How we respond to the power of God very often determines whether or not we will see it.

Does that seem like a lot of responsibility? It is. Yet this is how God has made his Kingdom to work. In heaven, where all things are seen plainly, faith in invisible realities doesn’t apply. But here, where the human story began with a questioning of God’s goodness and human hearts still have to make a decision about it, faith is essential. Can we see his wisdom, power, and love beyond the veil of this world? Or will we be blinded by the “reality” of finite circumstances, material limitations, and random processes? Will our hearts lean toward God or away from him? That’s the question that faith always answers, and this world is the perfect environment for testing it.

Choose faith. Always. Insist on what your eyes do not see. Only then will you be able to prove to your eyes that invisible truth was greater and more real. God responds according to our faith because faith has chosen him above all appearances. And when he responds, appearances change and his power becomes clear.

Prayers are heard in heaven in proportion to our faith.