What is “faith” and why is it so important?
So, what does one do when thrown into a life circumstance of which there is nothing that can be done to rectify it? Some say “have faith.” But, what does that even mean? When you’re in the thick of this mess, up to your ears in muck, and no clue what your next move is, what does this “faith” look like?
Many people go to Hebrews 11 to learn more about faith. We’ll go there too, but first, I’d like to take us one verse backwards to remember the importance of that faith:
Hebrews 10:39 (NIV)
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed,
but of those who believe and are saved.
A more accurate translation to the end of that verse is that we are of those who have a “faith resulting in the preserving of the soul” (NT TransLine). It’s easy to tell someone to “have faith” when they’re going through hard times, but our response to that simple statement can actually preserve our soul. The opposite? Destruction. It seems to me that this faith thing is relatively essential.
So, again, what does faith look like? Just saying “have faith” doesn’t really explain anything, especially when your soul is being torn to shreds by the loss of a child.
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen;
it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Faith Has Action
On one hand, we do have faith (or a simple belief) that the world was formed at God’s command (vs 3), but the author of Hebrews knew that wouldn’t be enough for us to understand what faith looks like practically. He went on to share examples of faith that moved people:
By faith, Noah built the ark (vs 7).
By faith, Abraham moved his entire family to a completely new land (vs 8).
Also by faith, Abraham offered his first born son (the one God had promised would be the first seed of countless children) as a sacrifice (vs 17-18).
There is almost always action in our faith.
This is a comforting thought because most people have a hard time sitting in an allegorical pit of mud and doing nothing but “believing” everything will be okay; most of us would like to do something. However, what actions can we take in the middle of a miscarriage (or the months that follow) that result from faith?
Psalm 100 (NIV)
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
It’s written throughout the whole bible. Praise God. Praise God! Even when it doesn’t feel like it, He truly is worthy to be praised. All the time.
When we’re happy; when we’re not; when everything is going wrong. Praise God! He created us and we are His – period.
But in the midst of a miscarriage, I find myself thinking, “Really? Because, from where I’m sitting, I honestly have no praise, no joy, no gladness to offer Him. I just don’t. My life is falling apart. Right now, I’m not even sure God is paying attention.”
What then?
Psalm 13 (NIV, emphasis added)
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
My heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
For he has been good to me.
In other words: “Life sucks right now and where the heck are you, God?
YET: Your love endures forever. You are a good God. I will choose to praise you even right now from this filthy ditch in which I’m sitting.”
Now that is FAITH. If we can choose to believe that God is good, even when everything in life is pointing elsewhere, we are practicing faith. This means having a supernatural confidence that God is worthy to be praised; and therefore praising Him, even when we don’t see His goodness in this moment. (Remember, faith gives us assurance of things we cannot see.)
Humble Praise
So, our action plan is to praise a faithful and loving God. What would that praise look like? I think a really great start is to offer up to Him whatever you have. That might be your tears, fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, and loss; it may mean raising your empty hands to Him in worship, offering absolutely nothing but yourself.
1 Peter 5:6-7 (NT TransLine)
Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God in order that He may exalt you at the proper-time having cast all your anxiety upon Him, because he is concerned about you.
The word “anxiety” in this scripture is the same one used in the Parable of the Sower to describe the one who received the seed that fell among the thorns. Although He’s heard the word, the worries of this life get in the way and the seed can’t grow (Mt 13:22, Mk 4:19, Lk 8:14). These worries, fears, and anger about life (our circumstances) are the very ones we should offer up to Him. When we choose to shrink back rather than walk in faith and praise our God through our circumstances, then we are in effect letting our circumstances destroy us and hinder our growth.
Many people use only verse 7 of this scripture as encouragement in hard times, telling us only to cast our anxieties on God. However, when we look at the more literal translation above, it shows that humbling ourselves to Him and casting our anxieties go hand in hand. It’s almost as if you can’t have one without the other. Isn’t it incredibly humbling to offer up all our “stuff” to Someone who’s bigger and can handle it?
Giving Him our anxiety is not usually the first thing we think of when we’re feeling this way. Our thoughts would more likely go towards telling Him how little He knows and how much better we think we could have handled things. However, when we are humbled by surrendering our fears, it builds our faith that He will raise us up out of this mess in due time. Only a good, powerful God can do that. When we humble ourselves before Him, we can begin to see the truths He has given us in His word.
Amos 4:13 (NIV)
He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth –
the Lord God Almighty is his name.
I know these truths are not always a comfort when going through the roughest of times. But if we continue to faithfully praise God, offering up our emptiness and our pain, we will, in essence, be humbling ourselves to the Creator of the world. He is so much bigger and that knowledge will bring a new peace, joy, and comfort to our heart.
As You Go Forward
Philippians 4:4-9 (DLNT)
Be rejoicing in the Lord always; again I will say, be rejoicing.
Let your kindness be known to all people. The Lord is near. Be anxious-about nothing,
but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgivings,
let your requests be made-known to God.
And the peace of God, surpassing all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Finally brothers [and sisters], be considering these things – whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are commendable, if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise.
Be practicing these things which you indeed learned and received and heard and saw in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Praise God. By faith, with humility, tell Him your thoughts, fears, anxieties, frustrations, and desires. He will give you a supernatural peace that cannot be understood by the laws of this world. Lastly, think about His goodness. This will not only give Him the glory of which He is totally worthy, it will also serve to build your faith and your soul.