Do You Not Have Faith?

"Do you not yet have faith?"

Jesus asks this question of his Disciples in today’s Gospel when, in a terrified panic, they awake a sleeping Jesus on the boat when they are caught in a terrible storm. With a simple command the storm stops, leaving the Disciples watching in awe.

Jesus’ question to them is no different to us today, if we are honest with ourselves.

We talk about faith all the time, and all too often when we need it, we lack it. I think just as often when we invoke it, it’s misunderstood.

What is faith?

Sometimes we reduce faith simply to the list of things in which we believe. It’s more than that though isn’t it? In the Old Testament God tests the faith of Abraham by asking him to take his only son Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice. Abraham, without question, takes his son up the mountain and builds an altar. As he is raising the knife to kill his son, and angel of the Lord comes to stop him. What was faith for Abraham?

He doesn’t take this trip up the mountain with a “faith” that God will stop him. He simply has faith: faith in God. God asks him to do this unimaginable thing, and he has the faith to do it, without question. In the New Testament the Archangel Gabriel comes to Mary and asks her to be the mother of Jesus. Mary’s response is, “I am the handmaiden of the Lord, let it be done to me as you say.” We call this her fiat. Mary isn’t saying yes just to becoming pregnant. She is saying yes to all the future requests God will make of her. Like Abraham she doesn’t have faith in a particular outcome: she simply has faith. God asks her to do something, and she does it: in the process she also says, “put me down as a yes for all future requests too!”

How would this play out for the disciples in the boat. Relying on their faith in that situation would mean them thinking, “Jesus is with us, so whatever happens, happens.” It’s not faith only in a certain outcome. It doesn’t mean faith that Jesus will stop the storm, or that they will survive it! It simply means faith.

We go to Jesus “in faith” and ask him for all sorts of things: to calm our storms, to heal our sick relative, to help us get a job, or even for things as simple as good weather. The truth of the matter is, God alone knows what is truly best for us. So ultimately, we should want whatever he wills. Our suffering, our storms, our trials and tribulations, are all allowed by God because they fit into a bigger plan: a plan so big, so grand, and so wonderful that we can’t take it all in, no matter how far back we pull the camera.

So every time we are riddled with anxiety, are playing out all the negative possibilities, are begging him for desired outcomes, or are trying to convince him of why he should agree with our wants: he responds the same way. He says, “do you not yet have faith?”

After all that we’ve been through together: do you still not have faith?

Our own experience should prove to us that when we map out our own plan it often has let downs, problems, or disappointing outcomes. We should know that all too often we get exactly what we want and still aren’t happy. We talk about hindsight being 20/20: faith is not needing hindsight, because already know that God is working out something much bigger.

Our task is simple really: keep doing the next right thing, continually work on our relationship with God through prayer and discernment, and “keep our side of the street clean.” If we can do that, we will come to see that God is constantly at work, and that his will is always what’s best.

If all the world operated this way, imagine how different life would be.

So what about you? Do you have faith yet?