Faith & Life

Where Faith and Life Meet

Some people have a vast supply of faith, others have no faith at all, and the rest waver between some or little faith and no faith. Now, almost any preacher will tell you that testimony is a wonderful way to build faith. This is generally true – until you come to those with no faith at all. These will tell you that they don’t believe you, or you are inventing the story, or that it OK for those who believe, but as they don’t believe in God, why should they even think about believing you. Try as you will, there is no changing their minds – thank you very much.

It is people like this who need a demonstration of faith meeting life – our faith meeting their life to be exact. I remember stories from some men who walked across England following the famous ‘Coast to Coast’ route pioneered by Alfred Wainwright. The walk takes several days to complete and involves stopping overnight at pubs and hotels en route. The walkers were all Christians and, with permission, they shared the Gospel at each stop. One night they were confronted by a man with a quite badly broken leg and one of the walkers asked if they could pray for the man’s leg. This man was one of zero belief but others in the pub urged him on – perhaps thinking this would be a jolly little joke. The pub went silent as the man’s leg gave out a loud crack and the broken bones visibly moved back into place and he was miraculously healed on the spot. To God be all the Glory! There was a bit more sharing that evening and souls were saved purely on the basis of what they saw rather than what they heard.

That is faith meeting life. There are times, maybe even just moments, when our faith must be demonstrated rather than just spoken about. In a favourite quotation of mine, as St Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.” I wonder if our faith is up to that kind of challenge. Are we as full of faith as we urge our listeners to be? I know that I have personally witnessed many miraculous healings during the last four years of ministry, yet I also know that many of the people we have ministered to, have had no faith for their own healing. “It’s OK for others”, they would say, “but I doubt it’s for me.” This is where my faith, and the faith of those ministering with me, is tested. Have I got faith sufficient for the unbeliever?

How about you? When your faith meets real life, does it fail you? does it fail those to whom you minister? or does it stand firm and see the job through so that God can be glorified? I am fortunate in that I have seen more faith justified than not. So my personal faith for healing is quite high. I expect to see people healed – whether or not the recipient has faith.

What or how will you respond when someone asks you to put your faith in the firing line?