Faith, Like Dating, Can Be a Mystery

One of my favorite things about church is listening to a message from the pastor that the Holy Spirit seems to be tailoring specifically for you. I love it when you can really feel the Holy Spirit's understanding seeping through. Whether you are reading a Bible verse, listening silently in prayer or hearing something in a message, you know there are just certain times when God is saying, "This is what I want you to hear."

My pastor's message on Sunday touched on something about faith that really stuck out to me. Faith, he said, isn't trusting that God will do something you ask Him to do. Faith is trusting that God will do what is best for you. Sometimes believers treat God like a personal genie. We want specific things from Him, such as "God, let me start dating that girl," or "God, let me get this job."

Often, if these specific things don't come to pass, we wonder if we didn't have enough faith that God would provide them.

My pastor had a different view on faith. He said faith isn't believing that God will give you a certain job; it's believing that God will take care of you. Faith isn't believing that God will give you this certain girl to be your wife but that He has someone perfect planned for you.

At first this seemed like a minor difference, while I was listening to the sermon, but the more I thought about it, and the more the Holy Spirit worked on my heart, the more I realized that I have been cheapening the power of faith.

Looking back, there have been so many times in my life when I prayed for something to happen, but it didn't. Then, something else came along that was as good or better than what I had hoped for. It may have been different from what I expected, but God has always been there for me. He knows what I need much better than I do.

My wife and I both have been praying for some major things, and on Sunday it felt to both of us like the Holy Spirit was saying: "Let it go. Have faith that I will take care of you."

I'm going to have real faith that God will provide more than we need, even though it may not be what I had in mind originally.