Faith in Christ is something we can’t see seems a bit risky. Yet, as humans, even without religious or spiritual thought, we put ‘faith’ in so many things.
Most of us will have faith that the car will start, that food will be put on the table, and until recent events, that there would be toilet paper on the supermarket shelves. We don’t realize how much we rely on this kind of faith (or perhaps, assumptions) to get us through until something as simple as limited supermarket supplies throws us off and we have to rejig how we think and do things.
Faith in Christ or Material Goods?
One of the biggest things that we put our ‘faith’ in is our earthly future. Whether we have religious or spiritual faith doesn’t matter, most people believe they will live until around 80 years of age. This is shown by the way we plan ahead.
We can’t see or touch our future, but somehow, we assume we have one. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t plan our careers and retirement, we wouldn’t plan our wedding day, we wouldn’t plan where to go on holidays next summer, and we wouldn’t plan what we are wearing tomorrow. All these actions toward days in our future show that we have, in a non-religious sense, a faith that the future will be there. This notion that there is a tomorrow is really stepping out in ‘faith’. It propels us towards the future, giving us the motivation to keep going.
On the other hand, when we don’t have that sense of future, our mental health declines. We become fearful, uncertain of what lies ahead, sometimes even dreading the unknown. Although, we may not even see the point of a future and we can lose all hope. We can get so caught up in our earthly struggles, that we forget to look beyond the next few decades. We trap ourselves in our earthly existence and let our temporary troubles overwhelm us. Instead of placing our faith in the stage of life called eternity.
It’s interesting that scientific research tells us that those with a spiritual faith (of any description), have better recovery times, both physically and mentally. This spirituality contributes to better coping ability and lower levels of anxiety. Not only that, but people of faith have greater resilience, greater perceived social support, a more optimistic outlook, and can accept there is a purpose in their suffering.
What Should We Have Faith In?
Consider what a person of any spiritual faith believes – that there is a higher power, giving a sense of purpose to live and navigate our trials; that there is something better than what this world offers; and that we can attain that through whatever means a particular faith instructs. So, there is no question as to why people of spiritual faith, have better health outcomes.
Now, as Christians, let’s consider what this specifically means for our lives. We can have faith in Christ/God who:
- knows us intimately (Ps 139:13)
- is working everything out for our good (Romans 8:28)
- wants us to give our anxieties to Him (1 Peter 5:7)
- knows we will have troubles (John 16:33)
- is present in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1)
- hears us when we seek Him (Jeremiah 29:12-13)
- forgives our sins (1 John 1:9)
- guides us (Psalm 119:105)
- strengthens us through hope (Isaiah 40:31)
- has our eternal future planned for us (1 Peter 1:4)
So, when our troubles come, we can be sure they will pass, and that in God’s good, pleasing and perfect will, we will see the eternal future promised to us.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
Short Bio
Shauna is a Mental Health Nurse and founder of Christian Relaxation, a membership site, providing Christian mental health resources. www.christianrelaxation.com
