I'll believe it when I see it...

The longer I work in the church, the more I come to think that most of us have this whole "faith" thing a little backwards.

If you look at the dictionary, the first two definitions of faith are:
1. Confidence or trust in a person or thing
2. Belief that is not based on proof

Faith has an element of trusting in the things that we cannot prove.  However, many of us in the church approach faith with an "I'll believe it when I see it" attitude.

I find the very nature of this attitude a bit amusing.   If we can see it...if we can prove it...do we really have faith?  If we can prove it...does it really require us to put our trust in it.

Al, a member of our church staff, gave a sermon yesterday on the story of Thomas that brought this faith issue back to the forefront of my mind. 

John 20: 24-25
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”  But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

This passage comes right after Jesus appearance to the disciples (minus Thomas).  Though the disciples tell Thomas of their encounter with the resurrected Jesus, Thomas will not believe until he sees it for himself.  

The passage goes on to say in verse 26 -28
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”  Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus appears to Thomas later, Thomas gets his chance to touch Jesus' wounds and believe.

Verse 29 goes on to say...
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Thomas is credited for his belief, but Jesus is quick to point out that those who believe without seeing are the ones who are blessed.  

I think Thomas' story is an important story for many of us today given the way that we approach our relationship with God.
We test God often with our "if you do this for me God...then I'll believe and be faithful".
We trust more in our own ability to provide for ourselves than we do in God's promise to provide for us.  
We only believe in what we can see and can prove.

Hebrew's 11:1 states "Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see."

Ultimately, I believe we are missing out on a true blessing of what church and God is all about when we only put faith in what we can see and prove.  
Few of us live our lives in a way that we really have to trust God in much of anything.  
We work ourselves to death to be able to have things "stable" for our families.   
We work hard to control things in our lives and we only like to participate in things that we can project or know the outcome.
We have belief in God, but we are missing the trust aspect of our faith.

Often things happen in our lives that make it impossible for us to know the outcome and instead of having faith in God, we blame God for not taking care of us to the manner in which we've become accustomed to.

Sickness comes into our lives and anger is often the first response instead of faith in God.  "God, how could you let this happen to my family, we are good people."
We get laid off at work and we are afraid and angry.

I find myself often wondering where the "faith" is in our churches.  We only launch ministries when we know it will be successful.  We only set budgets if we know the money will be there.  We only participate in ministries we are comfortable with and feel like we have a little bit of control.
We are often afraid of really being honest with our fellow church members about what is going on in our life, because we are afraid of being judged.

In so many ways we simply lack the "trust in the unseen" aspect of faith.

I know I often add to this problem more than I add to the solution.

My question to you is where in your life are you having to really trust in God?
Do you simply work toward having everything in your life controllable?
When is the last time you really had to step out in faith and put your full trust in God?

In many ways, I'm a control freak.  I like to be in charge, I like to know the outcome.  I can also look at my life and realize how this has hindered my relationship with God. 

I had a friend in college once try to point this out to me and tell me that "Kevin, you only believe it when you see it".
Instead, he messed up this cliche and said instead "Kevin, you'll only see it when you believe it."
We both laughed when he messed up, but then had a great conversation about the truth of his actual statement.


More than anything...I believe God is just waiting to bless us in so many ways.
Not with money...
Not with possessions...
Not with ability to control things...
But with faith...
With depth of relationship with God...
With confidence and hope in the areas in our lives that are beyond our control. 
With a peace that passes all understanding.