Articles
The Bridge of Faith
The scene is familiar: we see the star of a movie hiking through the jungle. Ahead, he sees a roaring river with a rope bridge spanning it. As he approaches the bridge, something happens and the bridge collapses, leaving him stranded on the other side, away from his destination. Often in the movies another route is found, although it may add distance and difficulty to the expedition. Our lives are similar to this situation: we navigate our way through the troubles of this world towards our destination. We realize that there is a divide between where we are and where we want to be. Across the way, there is a storehouse kept by God, full of all the spiritual blessings we need in order to succeed, a storehouse full of mercy, grace, forgiveness, and strength. Although at times in our lives as Christians we feel disconnected from our God and his blessings, there is a bridge by which these blessings may be transferred to us: faith.
When we consider the fact that God is spirit, we realize that our relationship to Him must begin with our spirit. The difficulty of this is that none of us have ever seen God, nor have we seen our own spirit. How then may we initiate a spiritual connection with our Father and the abundance He offers us? By faith! Faith is vitally important for us to have a relationship with God. It is our connection to the spiritual realm. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). In this familiar text we see that faith gives us confidence to believe in the spiritual side of life. A few verses later, it is affirmed that our faith connects us to God: “...whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6). Going back to our scene from earlier, the analogy may be made that without faith, the movie character would not even see across the bridge to his destination. As spiritual people, without faith we would not see the goodness of God, nor would we be able to approach Him.
James explains that faith alone does not cause rich blessings to be showered on us. Although it is obvious that in our relationship with God, he meets us much more than halfway, we must be willing to work to attain the blessings he affords. In chapter 2, James gives examples of those who, by faith, performed works that granted them friendship with God and justification. Do we desire these things? We must work to obtain them! We understand that God has a law and expects obedience, but how often to we sit idly and wait for God to initiate contact with us? Faith without a working obedience is not just frowned upon, it is dead (Jas 2:17)!
Not only does faith allow us to become aware of the blessings available to us from our Father, a strong, obedient faith allows us to have access to those blessings. The apostle James tells us that God gives generously to those who ask. The stipulation is that we must ask in faith, without doubting, and we will receive what God offers (James 1:5-6). Perfect gifts, such as wisdom and patience, are available for us when we, in faith, make our petitions to God.
Consider once again our opening scene, and recall the hopeful feeling you felt when you saw the movie character find the bridge that would lead him home. Now, consider your destination. Do you see it by faith? The evil one desires to tear down your bridge of faith, leaving you stranded and hopeless. Let us live by faith and die in faith, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).
