Faith Is…

Trusting the unprovable

“I would love to be a believer, if I knew it was the truth,” an intelligent young Japanese man said to me. “Prove it to me. That’s what the unbelieving world is waiting for. We’re scientific. We want proof before we believe.”

“But that’s a contradiction,” I answered. “If there is proof, there no longer is room for belief. For faith believes in that which cannot be proven. Let me sum it up in this sentence:

When proof is possible, faith becomes impossible.”

The young man asked, “But if God wants us to be believers, why didn’t He prove Himself to us?”

Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please [God].”

The same is true in human relationships. When somebody believes in you before you’ve earned their trust, you have been honored! When they trust you even though you didn’t display your credentials, faith is born.

I remember the people who believed in me when I started our ministry. I was unknown. I had no reputation. Yet they believed in me before I could prove myself to them. To this day I have deep affection for and gratitude to those special persons.

God knew what He was doing when He established the belief system. When you strip away all mystery and leave the truth naked and mathematically scientific, something sweet and attractive is lost.

There will always be the unknown. There will always be the unprovable. But faith confronts those frontiers with a thrilling leap. Then life becomes vibrant with adventure!

- excerpt from Tough Minded Faith For Tender Hearted People by Robert H. Schuller