I always thought I believed with “blind faith;” that I just accepted things I knew I couldn’t fully understand without a second glance because there was no way to find definite answers to all of the “tough questions” of life. It wasn’t until I was defining faith to someone earlier today that I realized I don’t in fact live in blind faith. I live with a child-like faith.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “[n]ow Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the certainty of things not seen.” To a person with trust issues, this can be a real problem. It can sometimes be extremely difficult for a systematic person like myself to trust in something that can’t be seen (or in essence, can’t be proven logically). But there are many small things I take at face value without needing any explanation, things that other people discovered and proved for me. For instance, I believe that atoms exist. I believe in the force of gravity and the laws of physics. I accept that dinosaurs existed a long time ago. I believe in the existence of the universe. I trust that my car will work when I sit down to drive it. I even trust that my friends know how to drive when I get in the car with them. I trust that my parents know what is best for me. I believe that my doctors know what they are doing and that the 13 pills I take a day will help me. I believe in many small things that I couldn’t possibly ever understand or scientifically prove or even really know to the fullest extent.
My child-like faith stems mainly from trust. I have small simple trusts, like the trust in my car’s and my doctor’s abilities, and then I have bigger simple trusts, like the trust I have in the existence of an almighty being. I have a child-like faith in an almighty God, because His promises have proven true throughout all eternity. As God is infinite and I, His creature, am finite, I am limited in my ability to understand Him fully, and in this I again have to have faith in He who has proven trustworthy. I keep reiterating the fact that my faith is like that of a child because, like children, I accept things at face value without ever feeling the need to ask “why.” A long time ago, I came to the conclusion that I don’t need to know the specifics of how the world was created, or how exactly Jesus rose from the grave, in order to believe in these things. I have faith in an infinite God whose perfect love and grace go far beyond the realm of my understanding. My trust that God fulfills his promises is all that I need to sustain me.
This faith has carried me through the hardest parts of my life. I rest peacefully in my faith, knowing I can confidently trust in the things I cannot see but know are there. It is my child-like faith that carries me through this blind adult world. This I believe.
xoxox
ps: create your own this I believe statement at http://thisibelieve.org 🙂
meaganleighkennedy 