Faith is one of those things that is very hard to explain. You either have it...or you don't. It is one of the few things in life that is pretty clear cut. Now, of course, there are varying degrees of faith to which people live by. But believing and not believing is as easy to see as white verses black. And the funny thing is...people who have faith in the Lord can't for the life of them figure out who people with out faith make it through the day. But likewise, those who choose not to believe in God think along the same lines but in the opposite direction. This is an extremely tough subject, and I am in no way the expert. However, I will give you my spin on it, as I see it, and based on my personal experience, for what it is worth.
Faith is believing in something you can't see, can't touch, can't smell, can't have any tangible way of coming in contact with it, yet believe it is as real as the computer I am typing this message on right now. When you stop and think about it, basically it defies all logical thinking. Maybe think of it as a sixth sense for lack of a better comparison. Something you feel inside your gut, and you know God is there, you sense it with all of your being...sometimes! Then sometimes, for whatever reason, if you are grounded in your faith deep enough, you don't feel it quite so much, but because you have before so strongly, your mind takes over and helps you move past the fact that you don't feel Him as closely as you did last week, last month, or even last year. This is where the title of this message comes from today...having faith even when you don't feel like it. Sometimes you continue to move along in your faith, and walk with the Lord although you feel distant. And if you have even been there, you know what I am talking about. It is a very odd and unsettling time for someone who believes with their whole heart, and knows how they desire to feel close to God, but just flat out don't :( Since everyone knows you are sold out to God, you continue to move along like always, but you can't shake the feeling that you almost feel like a fraud. You go through the motions, but your heart feels like it is somewhere else. You wonder if anyone can tell? Do you think they notice you aren't quite feeling it? And this is what I call having faith even when you don't feel like it. Not a great place to be...or is it?
I have decided since I have been there a time or two, it is often a time of waiting for the next big thing. I almost look at it as a time of quiet reflection and rest before God uses you in a mighty way. Or maybe a time where you begin to miss Him so much, you build up a longing in your soul which builds and builds until you are ready to explode. Then it could always be a slow building up, over many days, weeks, months, until you finally see the end of the long and lonely road you have been on for all this time. Either way, once you get back to feeling God close, you are overjoyed at the sound of His voice and His feeling of presence in your life. But, I wonder how many find themselves in this wilderness feeling all alone, and never make it back to the Lord? Could it be a bit of a test? I don't know, I told you I totally don't have all of the answers!!! But what about those that choose to not believe...
I have a very short little bit to say about this because I have no idea how it feels. I have believed my whole entire life since I was a small child. It is all I know to have faith, and although my religion has changed along the way, my faith is still in the same one God of the universe. My simple thought to those who don't believe, is I get it. If you don't feel it, and you don't believe, then flat out you just don't. So, if I am wrong and there is no God then the worst I did was profess to believe in something that wasn't real, and maybe wasted a total of several years of my life at church and studying God's word. But what if I'm right, what if there's more, and there is a God...A God who could have blessed you in ways beyond your comprehension if you would have just allowed Him to do so. And if I'm wrong, then when I die, I will do just that, die and be buried, gone forever with nowhere to go. But what if I'm right, then I will spend eternity with the Creator of the universe, and those that choose not to believe will be separated from the presence of God.
To sum it up then, if you have faith (even if you don't always feel it) the possibilities are potentially limitless, and all you have to give up is pride that you and your way are best. And if you don't believe, you are limited to only what you see around you on this earth. It is quite a chance to take the way I see it. If I'm wrong, I wasted a bit of my life on something that wasn't real, and in the end, I die and that's that. If you are wrong, you lived your life as you wished, but your eternity after death will be spent wondering why I didn't have faith even when I didn't feel like it...
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