Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Corinthians 13:7 (NIV)

I find myself in tears this afternoon because I am really afraid something I am hoping for will not come to pass. I spent the greater part of the past several days doing everything in my power to protect myself from the disappointment, not even aware that was what I was actually doing. But the moment I entered God’s presence, it became clear. And in that moment, it became clear how costly faith really is.

We often talk about the power of faith, but we do not always talk about the cost of faith. Granted, a life of faith is beautiful; I would not change it for the world. But every time we choose faith, it costs us something. We are giving up all that we can rely on and often all we can control with our own faculties. Like Abraham, we are setting out, leaving the comfort and safety of all that is familiar. We are placing ourselves entirely in the hands of another, namely God.

Many view faith as their ticket to remaining in control. They think faith gives them the power to ensure their own happiness and destiny. But this is mistaking faith in God for faith in ourselves. True faith comes from God: He is the source of the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.¹ Abraham did not wake up one day and say, “I think I am going to be the father of many nations,” and then set out on a mission to convince himself of this reality. No, God was the one who did the convincing. And Abraham is our example. Just as his life demonstrates, faith always begins with God: He reveals his plans and intentions, inviting us to follow.

This has a few implications. One is that faith is deeply personal. God knows you just as he knew Abraham.² He has a unique purpose for your life. The second, accordingly, is that faith is specific and unique in nature. We are not willy-nilly trying to think positive thoughts about the circumstances of our lives to get outrageous things to happen. Rather, we are responding to and partnering with the God who is speaking outrageous things over our lives. Again, faith is deeply personal. When we practice faith, we are not cultivating a relationship with our imagination; we are cultivating a relationship with the God of all creation, the God of all hope, with whom all things are possible.

And God will often take us into the places of our hearts long-dead from pain, fear, and disappointment. He will go into those places where we have made a home for ourselves, where things are familiar. And in that place, he will call us out to leave all that is familiar with a promise of an extravagantly abundant life. Here is where courage is most needed, for he is asking us to hope again, and often everything in us just wants to stay small. In the final analysis, faith costs us everything.

But then, is there really any other way to live?

1. Hebrews 11 ↩︎
2. Technically, he still knows Abraham ↩︎