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| Carved in stone at the Wright Brothers Memorial |
I confess that the word "faith" has generally been associated with something more ephemeral than granite in my mind! But as I have grown in it, I see that the perception all depends on how much weight you put on the object of your faith.
We can have faith in the weather report when we get dressed, faith in a doctor's advice, faith in our spouse when we commit to marriage, or faith in God. Faith begins with what we know and trust about the object. Faith then becomes stronger as we find what we believe in holding up over time and under pressure.
I once read that we exercise a tremendous amount of faith everyday of our lives -- such as whenever we expect a chair to hold our weight, or pass through a green light at an intersection. That helped to de-mystify the whole concept for me when it came to God. It led me to think about how well I know God, and how much am I willing to put the weight of my trust on Him. The more I do, the more the experience makes my faith real to me.
I love Hebrews 11:1 which says "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped, the conviction of things not seen." (NASB), or even stronger in the New King James, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". Spiritual reality is all about things not seen and God is at the heart of it. But what I have learned is that faith is all about the rubber meeting the road in the tangible realities of my life.
The story of the Wright Brothers belief that flight was possible and the story of their perseverance in doing the work it took to actually fly, is inspirational to me. They joined their dreams to faith and hard work and now we take air travel and even space travel for granted. I like the photo of "faith" carved in stone. It reminds me that my faith is powerful because God is powerful and able to do anything.