Faith in the Worst of Times
Sweeping across Germany at the end of World War II, Allied forces searched farms and houses looking for snipers. At one abandoned house, almost a heap of rubble, searchers with flashlights found their way to the basement. There on the crumbling wall, a victim of the Holocaust had scratched a Star of David. And beneath it, in rough lettering, the message:
I believe in the sun—even when it does not shine;
I believe in love—even when it is not shown;
I believe in God—even when He does not speak. –Robert Schuller
Theories about God’s Existence
Imagine a family of mice who lived all their lives in a large piano. To them in their piano-world came the music of the instrument, filling all the dark spaces with sound and harmony. At first the mice were impressed by it. They drew comfort and wonder from the thought that there was Someone who made the music—though invisible to them—above, yet close to them. They loved to think of the Great Player whom they could not see. Then one day a daring mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned very thoughtful. He had found out how the music was made. Wires were the secret; tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths which trembled and vibrated. They must revise all their old beliefs; none but the most conservative could any longer believe in the Unseen Player. Later, another explorer carried the explanation further. Hammers were now the secret, numbers of hammers dancing and leaping on the wires. This was a more complicated theory, but it all went to show that they lived in a purely mechanical and mathematical world. The Unseen Player came to be thought of as a myth. But the pianist continued to play.
The Singing Bird
Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings to greet the dawn while it is still dark.
Cynical View of Faith
For one of the more acerbic definitions, consider Ambrose Bierce’s definition of faith with these cynical words: “Faith—belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge of things without parallel.”
Candid Prayer
There was a farmer who had three sons: Jim, John, and Sam. No one in the family ever attended church or had time for God. The pastor and the others in the church tried for years to interest the family in the things of God to no avail. Then one day Sam was bitten by a rattlesnake. The doctor was called and he did all he could to help Sam, but the outlook for Sam’s recovery was very dim indeed. So the pastor was called and appraised of the situation. The pastor arrived, and began to pray as follows:
“O wise and righteous Father, we thank Thee that in Thine wisdom Thou didst send this rattlesnake to bite Sam. He has never been inside the church and it is doubtful that he has, in all this time, ever prayed or even acknowledged Thine existence. Now we trust that this experience will be a valuable lesson to him and will lead to his genuine repentance.
“And now, O Father, wilt Thou send another rattlesnake to bite Jim, and another to bite John, and another really big one to bite the old man. For years we have done everything we know to get them to turn to Thee, but all in vain. It seems, therefore, that what all our combined efforts could not do, this rattlesnake has done. We thus conclude that the only thing that will do this family any real good is rattlesnakes; so, Lord, send us bigger and better rattlesnakes. Amen.”
Ready for Rain
The drought of the past winter threatened the crop in a village of Crete. The priest told his flock: “There isn’t anything that will save us, except a special litany for rain. Go to your homes, fast during the week, believe and come on Sunday for the litany of rain.” The villagers heard him, fasted during the week and went to church on Sunday morning, but as soon as the priest saw them, he was furious. He said, “Go away, I will not do the litany. You do not believe.” “But, Father,” they protested, “we fasted and we believe.” “Believe? And where are your umbrellas?”
Clinging to Christ
I will stick to Christ as a burr to a topcoat! –Katherine von Bora, wife of Martin Luther
How You Know
A twelve-year-old boy became a Christian during a revival. The next week at school his friends questioned him about the experience. “Did you see a vision?” asked one friend. “Did you hear God speak?” asked another. The youngster answered no to all these questions. “Well, how did you know you were saved?” they asked. The boy searched for an answer and finally he said: “It’s like when you catch a fish, you can’t see the fish or hear the fish; you just feel him tugging on your line. I just felt God tugging on my heart.”
Believing in the Unseen
It seems the pastor’s small son was told by his mother that he should wash his hands because there were germs living in all that dirt. He refused and complained: “Germs and Jesus! Germs and Jesus! That’s all I ever hear around this house and I’ve never seen either one.”
Becoming Spiritual
We never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to become so. You must undertake something so great that you cannot accomplish it unaided. –Phillips Brooks
Wisdom from Helen Keller
I believe that we can live on earth according to the teachings of Jesus, and that the greatest happiness will come to the world when man obeys His commandment “Love one another.”
I believe that we can live on earth according to the fulfillment of God’s will, and that when the will of God is done on earth as it is done in heaven, every man will love his fellowman, and act toward them as He desires they should act toward Him. I believe that the welfare of each is bound up in the welfare of all.
I believe that life is given us so we may grow in love, and I believe that God is in me as the sun is in the color and fragrance of a flower—the Light in my darkness, the Voice in my silence.
I believe that only in the broken gleams has the Sun of Truth yet shone upon men. I believe that love will finally establish the kingdom of God on earth, and that the cornerstones of that kingdom will be liberty, truth, brotherhood, and service. –Helen Keller
The Bottom Line
It’s not what men eat, but what they digest that makes them strong.
Not what we gain, but what we save that makes us rich;
Not what we read, but what we remember that makes us learned;
Not what we preach or pray, but what we practice and believe that makes us Christians. –Francis Bacon
Wait and Tread Water
A few years ago, I almost drowned in a storm at sea in the Gulf of Mexico when I found myself swimming far from shore, having tried to reach my drifting boat. I got into that predicament through my own stupidity, something not unusual at all. I can remember saying, “Well, this is it.” The waves were seven or eight feet high, and the sky was dark with gale force winds and lightning. I was drifting out to sea when the Word of the Lord came to me and save my life. What I thought He said was, “I’m here, Larson, and you’re not coming home as soon as you think. Can you tread water?” Somehow that had never occurred to me. Had I continued my frantic effort to swim back to shore, I would have exhausted my strength and gone down.
In all sorts of situations, we can make matters worse by our frantic efforts to save ourselves when God is trying to tell us, “Stand still.” We have gotten ourselves into a hopeless situation and the more we do, the worse it gets. –Bruce Larson
Faith on the Wire
Imagine, if you will, a wire stretched between the bank building and the tiny hall on the square in our town. A lone individual stands atop the bank building and announces his intent to walk across the wire to the other building. Of course, a crowd has gathered below because what he intends is a bit strange. The tightrope walker asks the crowd if they believe he can make it across. They nod in assent. Carefully, slowly he teeters his way across almost falling. Reaching the other side, he holds up a wheelbarrow and asks the crowd if they think he could push it across before him. Some not in assent. Some shrug their shoulders in response. The tightrope walker then singles out a man and yells down to him, “Sir, do you think I can make it?” The response is affirmative so the walker says, “Then prove your faith by riding in the wheelbarrow.” Christ calls to us personally, saying He will guide us over life with its dangers. Would you ride in the wheelbarrow?
The Evidence of Personal Experience
A bold unbeliever was lecturing a group on the folly of religious faith in general and the Christian faith in particular. At the close of the presentation, the speaker invited people to propound any questions they might have. In the audience was the town drunkard, who had been converted to Christ. In response to the invitation, the converted alcoholic came up front, took out an orange, peeled it, and ate it without comment.
The speaker asked if he had a question for him. After downing the last segment of orange, the convert turned to the infidel and asked, “Was the orange I just ate sweet or sour?” “Angrily, the speaker replied, ‘You idiot, how can I know whether it was sweet or sour when I never tasted it?’” To this the converted drunkard retorted, “And how can you know anything about Christ if you have not tried Him?”
Financial Belief
There are no atheists among people called in for an IRS tax audit.
Belief in the Visible
Some things have to be believed to be seen.