First Post!

Today is my birthday – a day each year when I have the opportunity to celebrate, to think about the past year, and to look ahead to more years in the future.  So this seems like the perfect day to begin this weekly blog about the life of faith – a journey that also celebrates, remembers the past, and moves toward the future as God reveals it each day.

Faith is an interesting thing.  Everyone has faith in something – either God, themselves, other people they are in relationships with, the law of gravity, the laws of nature, etc.  Faith seems to be hard-wired into each of us, but faith in God is not something we can give to someone else or cause to happen in ourselves.  That’s because the Bible makes it clear that God is the source of faith, and faith is his gift to us (Ephesians 2:8-9).  He has begun a work of faith in each of us and has every intention of completing that work: “. . . being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion . . .” (Philippians 1:6).

The interesting thing about faith is that, even though it is a work begun by God, we can’t just sit back and expect him to do all the work to make it grow.  As Philippians 2:12-13 tell us, faith involves us working out our salvation as God works in us: “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.  For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”  We can’t make our faith grow without God’s help and power, and he has chosen to limit his ability to work in us to include our effort in the process.  That’s because God is all about relationship – and faith is a relationship with the sovereign Creator of the universe.

Here’s the thing, though, about relationships: no two look exactly alike.  Although grounded in the same truths, my faith will look different than your faith.  I have found that God teaches us different parts of himself at different times and in different ways.  What our faith looks like at any given moment directly relates to what God is teaching us through our experiences and his Word.  Faith is a lifelong journey, and everyone is on a slightly different path.  That’s why I believe that faith is not always simple and not always a foregone conclusion, no matter how long we walk with God.  Working out our faith on a daily basis may sometimes involve questioning and struggling along the way, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re not on track with God.  The struggle may be God-ordained to help us grow a little more in our faith.

So the question on my birthday is this: are there faith milestones to celebrate from this past year?  Have I learned how to trust God more because of how I followed him during the year?  And am I ready to move into the next year with confidence that God will continue to reveal the best path for me to grow in my faith as he keeps carrying on the good work he began in me?  May I continue to be found worthy, and to God alone be the glory!