A lot of people believe in God, and it makes sense too. There must be something behind this universe we observe and the world we hear, see, touch, smell and taste. Believing in a distant ‘God’ somewhere out there is easy. But what about one who is up-close and personal? The Bible shows us we can have a personal relationship with God, our creator, and that His desire is for us to know Him.
A personal relationship with God differs from one with a fellow human being. The characteristics of love and commitment still need to be present, but a relationship with God departs normality because we can’t see Him. We see the evidence of Him everywhere, but we can’t directly see Him. So what makes a relationship with God work? The only way we can have a relationship with an all-powerful, eternal God we can’t see is, by faith. It won’t always be like that because there is a day coming when we will see Him face to face. But for now it requires faith.
What is faith? Is it real or is it some imaginary substance religious people kid themselves with? We all need faith. We can’t live without it. Without faith in a tomorrow, how could we live today? Relationships cannot exist without faith. A marriage is a tangible thing, but if the two people involved have no faith in each other the marriage ceases to exist. Faith makes it work. The faith to believe and enjoy a relationship with God is a little different because our senses, most of the time, aren’t directly involved. But this level of faith isn’t as hard to generate as we think. We use it regularly and don’t realise it. For example, I spent some time overseas travelling to different countries and having a great time. Naturally, when I returned home I told my family about some of my favourite spots. None of them has seen, touched, heard, smelt or tasted the places and things I enjoyed in Paris. But they believe what I have told them, even though their five senses were denied the experience.
‘Faith’ simply means, ‘complete trust or confidence’. The reason my family believe is because they trust me, they have confidence in my character - they have faith. It’s as simple as that. Apply this principle to God. You can trust Him with total confidence because of who He is and what He has done. God is totally good, perfect and pure, that’s who He is. But He demonstrates this further in what He has done. Jesus paid a huge price by dying on the cross to solve our sin problem. His eternal love and care are beyond comprehension. He has surely earned our faith. But God has not left us alone to engender faith. He has given us the Bible. Reading His Word in itself will generate faith as Romans 10:17 indicates. ‘Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’
Faith is more than a necessary ingredient for a relationship with God. God admires it. It causes Him to act. It thrills Him! Hebrews 11: 6 says, ‘Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him’. The whole of chapter 11 pays tribute to men and women who had faith. God practically brags about them. They were by no means perfect. All of them made huge mistakes, but God was pleased because of their faith.
If we cannot please God without faith, clearly He is more than pleased when we have it. In Romans 4:3 we read how Abraham’s faith made him ‘right’ or ‘innocent’ (righteous) before God. When we come in faith to ask for our sins to be forgiven God respects that faith so much He makes us innocent, justified, just as if we never did it! God loves faith. He is moved by it. It causes Him to act. It causes Him to forgive. It’s hard to grasp the fact that the God of the universe responds to our faith. Even when Jesus was on earth He seemed to be on a constant search for faith and when He found it He more than often responded with miracles. Jesus admired faith in people. He praised people who had ‘great faith’ because great faith means great trust.
Faith is not just a word. It’s something we live by. Hebrews 11:1 in The Message translation says it well. ‘The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see’ (italics mine). Faith makes our relationship with God come alive, and beyond that, it moves God’s heart like nothing else. Faith brings heaven to its feet and God up-close and personal.