“For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And “the just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11).
Some fellow writing in to our local paper thought he was slamming Christians when he said, “Religious people do everything by faith; science deals with hard facts.”
Give them credit. When I wrote a response to that slanderous statement, the editors ran my letter.
The simple fact is everyone on the planet lives by faith.
LIFE is a faith thing. For everyone.
We wake up in the morning without a thought as to whether the air in the room will be breathable and the oxygen in the air will be sufficient for everyone on the planet. Without a conscious effort and no hesitation or doubt, we inhale and begin to stir and head to the bathroom where we turn on the faucet. We have never been to the water filtration plant and have no knowledge of all the steps unseen people there take to purify the water, making it safe for us to bathe in and even to drink. We use it by faith.
We open the pantry and refrigerator and take out foods for breakfast. The strawberries are from California, the blueberries from Chile and the milk from a dairy in another state. The cereal was produced in Battle Creek, Mich., and the coffee originated in South America. Will you be poisoned today? It has happened, you know. You were not alongside the inspectors of those berries or the FDA people overseeing those plants or the agricultural people checking out the coffee beans at the port. However, you give this no thought and open the newspaper and eat your cereal. By faith.
You live by faith.
On the highways, you live by faith.
You will pass hundreds of automobiles today, many of them at high rates of speed and going in opposite directions from you only a few feet away. Anything could happen, and has happened. A driver could fall asleep, be distracted, be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or suddenly have a seizure of some kind. His car would then veer out of control and do great damage. And yet, you give this no thought as you merge into interstate traffic.
You drive by faith.
Even with excellent drivers, something could happen to one of the cars, and has happened. A tire could blow, an engine could shut down or brakes could fail. Suddenly, bedlam erupts on the interstate and bad things happen. And yet, you scarcely give this possibility a thought. You are a person of incredible faith.
Faith in what? You have faith in thousands of drivers you have never seen and do not know, as well as faith in their vehicles and in the system that is supposed to keep them in good repair.
You have faith in the medical system.
You go to a doctor whom you have never met who diagnoses a problem you’ve never heard of. They give you a prescription you cannot read, which you take to a pharmacy where you never see the druggist. Later, you open the dispenser and take out a pill you do not recognize, and, following the directions on the label, you open wide and swallow.
You have incredible faith, my friend. Admirable faith.
When your doctor prescribes tests, you obediently submit to the battery of procedures in some unfamiliar building where strange machines probe your body and invade your orifices. Later, when the doctor produces odd-looking printouts and describes some foreign-sounding condition you’ve never heard of, you agree to go into the hospital for surgery. People you do not know and have never met will take you to the edge of death, do life-threatening things to the inside of your body, and (hopefully) bring you back again.
Tell me you don’t live by faith! What a joke.
