As a Christian, faith is something that is developed and worked to maintain in the face of challenges and tests that we all experience. The primary difference is that instead of putting our faith in “Man” or things of man such as government, Christians rely on the promises made by God. Christians have the comfort of knowing that God will do exactly what is carefully explained and taught in the Bible which is God’s Word to man. The peace of knowing what God promises can make it very easy to cultivate the type of unshakable faith that so many Christians exemplify.
Secular people try to explain faith away and prefer to rely on worldly items like Science, government, or other men. For me, this is like pondering the age old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg? Man and science would try to explain this conundrum away with lofty sounding, academic explanations primarily leaning on the theories of evolution or the “Big Bang” which are far flung ideas full of holes and problems.
People of faith tend to be happier, calmer, and more at ease and peace, no matter what they are hit with in life. Why is this, how can this be? First, it is because Christians understand that there is something far bigger than “Man” and that is God, creator of everything. Christians will read and study the Bible to better understand and learn how to handle anything that they are faced with. Primarily, the Bible teaches Christians that no matter what, Jesus is always there with you and will fight the battles with or for you. It is the understanding that no matter what challenges and problems that we might face while on this earth, our Heavenly Father is always just a prayer away and is more than willing to jump into the battle and stand in the gap for us. God is always faithful to His Word and to His children, us. This understanding affords Christians a great deal of comfort and peace.
Today, we have but to turn on a television to see the seething hatred and vitriol of the secular world. We are hard pressed to find examples of joy and happiness and are instead, entreated to endless stories of hatred, rioting and chaos. Mindless violence over ideological differences is the topic of the day and there seems to be no end in sight for it. Far too many exuberantly embrace the chaos and violence and seek to fan the flames and spread it as much as possible. Hatred for anything and everyone who dare to differ from their worldview and opinions is assaulted with hatred and attacked wildly.
Where does this hatred come from and why is it so prevalent today? the Bible teaches us that the enemy, Satan is fully in charge of this world and that he comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Well, just take a look around and you can see endless examples of this taking place all around us. Satan was given full reign of this world and loves nothing more than causing as much chaos and damage to anyone who opposes him forever. The torment we experience in this life is nothing compared to the endless torment that will be inflicted upon those who reject Jesus and do not go to Heaven when they pass. Those who are not “Saved” and set aside to spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus will be condemned for all time to torment and unending anguish inflicted upon them in Hell. This is absolutely not appealing to me and I will spend my time on this earth doing my best to live up to the teachings of the Bible, God’s inspired Word.
The absence of faith results in fear, uncertainty, chaos. We have but to examine history to see how “Man” has fared in situations where the people were faithful and those who dared risk God’s wrath for not being faithful and rejecting God’s Word. Consider any tragedy involving little more than pure evil resulting in death, misery, and horror. Some glaring examples would be Nazi Germany, Stalin’s Russia, and Mao’s China in which millions upon millions of people were ground into submission under the unyielding boot of tyranny. These governments enriched the leaders with opulence and wealth while the average citizens were quite literally starved to death. A quick check of historical facts reveals the incredible death tolls which were the direct result of the failed ideologies and political systems imposed unwillingly upon the citizens of those respective countries. There is no lack of evidence demonstrating the horror, agony, and just plain evil perpetrated by Godless tyrants and dictators.
A common trait of these evil men was the rejection of God and Christianity. After that worldview, moral compass, and fundamental basis of character, the rest was easy for the enemy to swoop in and direct the actions of these evil men. Rejecting God is like slamming the door in Jesus face but flinging it wide open and welcoming in evil, and Satan. Free will was given to “Man” and God allows His children to make their own choices, even if the choices made cause great harm and grief to our Heavenly Father. Not loving Him back is one of the worst things that we can do to cause unimaginable grief to our loving Father in Heaven. Consider the pain caused to our earthly parents when we are disobedient children and cause pain and anguish to our earthly parents. Children do not typically like to hurt or cause their parents pain but rather seek their approval, and love. Most children will go to great links to please their parents and make them happy. The absolute same is true of our Heavenly Father who loves us more than anything else. Knowing that we have the love of Jesus gives Christians a tremendous sense of peace and happiness. Knowing this makes it easy to have faith that our God will always be faithful to us. Thank you Lord for all that you do for us. God bless America!
