Missing the Point

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Yesterday, I ended my perspective with this: I am wondering if they did not miss His point; after all, it was their fear and amazement that evidenced the location of their faith—IN HIM. As you remember, Jesus had just asked the disciples this very probing question: “Where is your faith?”
The truth is, I am wondering, if all of us haven’t missed the point, especially when it comes to faith. Notice that Jesus’ question was not, “Why don’t you (of all people) have faith?”; instead, it was “Where IS your faith?” In my mind, there is a difference. It would have been one thing for Jesus to have asked them, “Why don’t you have faith?” but it was quite another for Him to ask, “Where is your faith?” The former implying that they had no faith; however, the latter implying that they did have faith, but it wasn’t working properly.
He could have been asking, “Is your faith in your ability to survive this storm, or is it in My ability to calm the sea?” The truth is, however, I don’t think He was really asking them anything (yes, I know that it appears that He was); instead, I think He was teaching them a profound truth, making an incredible point, but I have reason to believe that they missed it, and I have even stronger reason to believe, that most who read the story today, miss it. HINT: I do not think He asked the question from an angry, frustrated heart, but with tongue in cheek.
I think He was simply demonstrating for them (and us!) this profound truth: there cannot, I repeat, CANNOT, be a crisis when He is in the “boat” with us, and He is—always! Even when the “storm” is so great that surviving seems impossible, He can calm it, with less than a whisper. Yes, it might seem that we are in a crisis, a major crisis, but a crisis cannot exist in His presence! Our perception of reality is not always equated with reality, and this is a prime example.
The truth is, the location of my faith is really not important, and I will give you three guesses, as to why. It is, however, HIS faith, working in and through my life, that matters! Why? He has perfect faith!
Yes, I think we have missed the point! Faith (not mine, but His) comes by hearing the Word of Christ, not by doing religious gymnastics, such as calming storms, healing the sick and raising the dead. Rest assured that I, for example, could never even believe the gospel; it is just too bizarre for me to believe; however, He believes it for me, i.e. He gives me what I do not have, the kind of faith that brings peace, even in the midst of the storms of life.