Is there a faith beyond belief? (Inspired by a Petra song.)
Is it events which make men great or do great men make events (history)? Moments in man’s history, singular men become revered for something that is beyond themselves…who go beyond the norms and who do not count events as sacrifice but things just happen. Men, like my grandfather, who served in our US armed forces who did or experienced things for the love of nation or people. They don’t talk about it. They don’t call each other heroes. But you get two vets or a vet and an active-duty soldier together and there is an instant understanding of the words sacrifice, duty, and going beyond. What propels?
And there are those whom we recall in the Bible such as Noah, Moses, etc. who experienced a moment that was beyond even impossible and yet God showed up…but only when a man took a step forward. This is to go beyond belief.
To use the example provided by the late Billy Graham, faith is to put your full weight upon something, like when we sit in a chair or stand upon a platform. We just know without even thinking about it that we will be held up. Hebrews 11:1 declares, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” It is this beyond belief of the natural or capable or possible of where God thrives. It is the realm of impossibility where God does His greatest work. It is knowing that we know—what comes natural—that God will move. It is that response that made men like Noah who built an ark and to fill it with animals. It is Moses who took his staff to declare before a defiant Pharoah, part a sea, and strike rocks that things happen. It is Elisha who calls upon God, strikes the Jordan River and it parts. And on and on and on are the host of Bible examples. As in that song by Petra, “leap of faith without a net makes us want to hedge our bet, waters never part until our feet get wet”, it is ignoring or casting away what the mind, the rational, the logical, the experience, the natural says what is a normal belief.
How or why? Hebrews 11:6 says, “But 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.” In a good marriage, there is a trust and confidence that both partners have toward one another. They are virtually one. And because of that, there is no lack of faith or doubt to what can be done. Same when a disciple has a heart like their pastor in a relationship with God to know and trust that God will always be there. And the same is true for our personal relationship with God (and God with us). It is beyond head knowledge. Because of the intimate relationship, there is no feeling for vulnerability or embarrassment to make us part ways. The other person/Person is there to provide, move, encourage, etc. Romans 1:17 continues this that we go from faith to faith. And as the song also says, “toward the center of the flow” is us stepping into that river found in Ezekiel 47 that compels us to not dwell on the shore or even in the shoals, but to step into and swim in the deep currents of God.
What has God called us to do? Perhaps the miracle or breakthrough we need isn’t just belief but requires beyond belief. Jesus “beckons us to go beyond belief”.