Anytime we are standing on the threshold of decision,
whether that decision is a major or minor one, we’re often making those
decisions based on what many refer to as faith. It is assumed that such faith
involves us taking obedient steps forward, often, into the unknown. Like
Indiana Jones’ leap of faith in the Last Crusade. Indy, however, is relying
more on what he knows to be true, rather than jumping blindly into the
unfamiliar. It just might be that faith is the reality that enables us to see.
If so, then such faith would make it possible to grasp what waits before us or to
understand what lies behind us.
In Hebrews, Paul describes faith as a way of living. He says
that while it cannot be denied, faith also cannot be render into something
tangible. Ultimately, such a definition of faith would require great sacrifice
on the part of anyone who would choose to live it out. If faith is a mode of
life rather than a blind step we take here or there, then what others might
perceive as failure, or a step backward, could actually be an example of one’s faith
being lived out.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that we have this
perception that true faith never looks back, and always moves forward, trusting
God with the unknown. But what if it takes just as much faith to step into what
we actually know and can see? And what if that involves us stepping back from
the threshold we now stand before? Many would interpret that as having no faith
at all. However, it is my understanding that the examples that Paul gives in
Hebrews were all acting on what they knew, could trust, and could see. If that
is faith being lived out, then stepping back into what I know and can
understand is also a great leap of faith.
