Faith and Hope

Seeing is believing we often say. But how do we see what is sometimes right in front of our eyes and yet we are blind to it? So much in our daily vision goes unnoticed. So much of what we "see" we take for granted. For instance, this past week I took a renewal CPR class and the instructor said, "Do you know where the fire extinguishers are in this place?" My answer was yes, but only because I had that sort of an awakening at home once when something caught on fire on the stove. "Where is the fire extinguisher? I know we have one," I thought in a panic at the time. There's a name for this phenomenon which happens to us concerning all manner of items in our lives: Observational Blindness. Think about the last time you purchased a new car. . .once you drove it off the lot, you began to see identical cars all over the place. Same color, same model, same interior. You never noticed all of them before and what you bought you probably thought was unique. We don't always SEE what is right in front of us because we simply are not aware that it is there.

Faith is like that. Before we really SEE that Jesus is right in front of us, along side of us, behind us, and with us, we fail to see his presence in our lives. It's not that he isn't there, it's that we don't recognize him- like the story from  Luke 24 as two disciples walked with Jesus all the way to the town of Emmaus. They didn't recognize him. They couldn't understand why he seemed to have no idea what had transpired over the past days. But it was in the meal that took place as they almost let him go on without them where they saw who he really was. In the bread and wine they experienced his full presence. He opened the scriptures to them and they knew! 

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for says the writer of Hebrews. What do you hope for? It's not an intellectual question; it's a practical question. You find yourself hoping for something all the time if you pay attention to your emotions: good health, renewed relationships, strength in the face of adversity, value, love, passion, employment, a child, you name it. To not hope is to be dead. Hope is part of being human and we hope in FAITH. Our hope is not an empty hope but rather a hope in what we know God will provide in God's good timing because it is his good will to give us the kingdom. Faith tells us that God is on our side, always and forever, even when we cannot see him, even when he seems absent or distant. Faith is the conviction of things unseen. It is a mystery, it is free falling into God's loving arms, it is reckless abandon in the face of our Creator. It's not rational or logical or sensible even. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit and the thing about it is, faith is almost impossible to explain (especially to those who do not believe), and it is not something we can will for ourselves. 

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for--- they will come to us in God's good time and pleasure.

It is the conviction of things unseen--- if we could see it or conjure it up for ourselves it wouldn't be faith. 

Have a blessed week! Keep the Faith!

Pastor Amy

This post is part of an ongoing series for the disciples and friends of Trinity Lutheran Church, Monroeville, Ohio. Each month they receive a memory verse to ponder and make their own as a part of their commitment to spiritual growth and maturity.