...in specific outcomes?
or is faith necessarily general in nature, and in a person or object, rather than an outcome?
In my case, particularly, can I have faith that I will be provided a job that will be stable enough allow me to still pursue grad school and facilitate a career change in a few years, getting financial affairs in good enough shape to make that change work smoothly, while in the meantime be something that I can at least somewhat enjoy doing with reasonably good motives?
*That* specific?
I don't know..
Seems to me that the faith that I see in the Bible is faith that is in a *person*, not in an outcome. The faith I see there is faith that trusts that person's (God's) virtuous character, strength of ability, and clear willingness to help. But even with that kind of belief, the people who showed faith still seemed to allow for God to do as He wished, not expecting Him to snap to, and get busy with what they asked for. And often, the result exceeded the help they wanted in the first place.
Yes, the need was specific, but the faith seemed to be general; the need was for an outcome, but the faith was in the person being asked for help.
Do I believe in God's virtuous character, strength of ability, and clear willingness to help? Yup. That kind of faith I have. But nothing more specific than that.
I may have a desire for a certain outcome, but.. no faith at all that God will give me that outcome. Only faith that He is gracious, kind, willing and able to help - as He sees fit, but in my best long-term (read: eternal) best interests.
Is that enough?
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1 comment:
Okay, Bob, you're missing something. That being - God is UNKNOWABLE. (That's part of what makes him 'God' and not just some generous benefactor in the sky.)
So spending a great deal of time trying to divine His will... probably just time you could be spending doing *practical* things to solve your problems.
God is not sitting around waiting to reward you because you have divined the nature of His plan. Nor, I doubt, is He capricious enough to have random moments of amusement at your plight and thereby toss you a bone for your troubles.
You would do well to figure out what is it that YOU want, and then do what you need to do to make it happen. This is not vanity or self-glorification. Sitting around and waiting for God to speak to you with the clarity and simplicity of a 5th grade primer is the vanity of thinking that you must never take responsibility for having desires and knowing yourself for who and what you are.
Alright... nuf soapbox for now.
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