Songwriter Andrew Peterson once wrote of faith as being "a burden, a weight to bear. It's brave and bittersweet," and I must agree. It's just plain tough to have faith in what you cannot see.
To those who aren't Christians, the actions and attitudes of the religious faithful are nonsense. They just can't understand how someone could believe in what they could not see, taste, touch or subjectively experience. They live with the worldview that what you see is what there is and what someone believes doesn't mean it exists.
But for the believer -- one who has taken a step of irrational faith -- their belief doesn't suddenly become an easy thing to exercise. No, they have to constantly remind themselves of what they believe and why. They have to constantly remind themselves that there is more than what they see around them. And they have to constantly remind themselves that God is a spirit and He lives in a realm that science cannot enter.
It's hard to have faith in God. Especially when you know that He has your best interest in mind but you cannot see a way out of a difficult situation. You're hurting and you wonder why God hasn't helped you. But it takes faith to believe that He wants to help you. Faith in what He has said in the Bible. Faith that He is a God of love and grace who takes no pleasure in seeing His children suffer. Even when you are currently suffering.
Faith is bittersweet. It's great because the faith of a believer generally gets stronger the more it is exercised. And it's great because it's what God has asked of you. But it's hard because it involves trusting in what you cannot see. It involves hoping in someone else. It involves waiting for answers
and looking for directions.
Now I know why St. Francis prayed, "Lord help my unbelief, lest I fall away." Faith is tough. But it is necessary.
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