Love birthed Faith, Faith birthed Courage

Faith is being sure what we hope for and being certain of what is not seen.

Hebrews 11:1, NIV

When we know the LOVE that gives peace, assurance and hope, we can be sure of the things that we hope for. Things in the future are hard for us to perceive. Just like this game shows I heard on Red FM, ‘The Box’. You are required to answer a simple question. Then, you are given two choices; cash or the box. In the box, there is a surprise GIFT. It may be an EXTRAVANGANT GIFT, or a simple gift such as two bottles of the 500 ml water. Many had participated. Many had win and brought home the CASH! I remembered one man sighing when he had discovered that in the box was a trip to a beautiful island, compared to the load of cash at hand.

Obviously our life is not like the game show. However, we could see some similarities that we often go for the things that could be SEEN or EXPLAIN, rather than the UNSEEN or UNEXPLAINABLE. We discount our faith to only things that could be SEEN with physical eyes. Why? Because we are afraid. We have fears that if we put our hope to the things unseen, that our lives will be out of control.

This fear is genuine, because it is into the unknown. When you and I placed our trust in Him, our unseen and unexplainable future is certain. Because it is there we find assurance that no matter where we go, we will have peace because He is with us. 

One day, there is a man lying on his death bed. There is a Christian doctor who worked at the hospital, who hopes that he can share the gospel with him. So, day and day, the doctor will go and check on him and have conversation with him. Soon after, the man on the death bed asked the doctor, “Do you believe there is heaven and hell?” The doctor caught by surprised, looked at the man and said, “Yes, I do.” The man replied, “Do you know where you are going?” The doctor said, “I know where I will go, that is heaven.” The man who had bad experiences with Christians, quickly challenged the doctor, “How do you know? How can you be sure? How sure you are going to heaven?” He added on, “If you can prove to me, I will give my life to Jesus.” The doctor was lost of words. So, he went home and prayed and seek the Lord. Few days passed by. He still haven’t gotten his answer to the questions of the man.

Taken from http://www.sorrywatch.com/2013/07/30/apologies-in-medicine-a-post-by-an-actual-doctor/

Now, this doctor has a dog. His dog is a faithful dog. Everytime, he comes home from work, his dog will be so happy to see him. As he goes about doing house chores, his dog followed him back and forth in the house. One night, as he was seeking the Lord, he looked at his dog and finally gotten his answer. 

The next day, he got permission from the hospital to bring his dog to visit this man. He got the dog all clean and sterilized. So, he went to the man’s room. Knocked on the door, and enter with his dog. He did his usual checks on him. The man who was curious, looked at the doctor and asked, “Why did you bring a dog here?” The doctor smiled and looked at him, “This is your answer to the questions that day.” The man was puzzled. Then, the doctor explained, “You asked me how can I be so sure where I am going in the after-life? I thought for days and sought the LORD but I didn’t find a solid answer to tell you. So, one day when I was resting, and my dog was by my side, then I realized something. My dog is a faithful dog. Every time I come home after work, it will greet me with smiles and followed me whole-hearted back and forth in the house. Today, I have brought my dog to an unknown place. Instead, of being frightened of its new surroundings, it calmly follow me in and out of my office and now in your room. It is not afraid, because my dog knows I am here with him. Same goes to my faith in Christ. I will not be afraid where I will be going after this life, because I know I will be with Him. With Him by my side, I am comforted.”

The man eyes welled up with tears.” May I have this kind of assurance that you have?” asked the man. The doctor puts his arms around the man and prayed.

Am I making this story up? No, absolutely no. It is a testimony of a friend. Thus, when we know WHO we LOVE and have the communion with HIM, then our LOVE will birth FAITH in our life. With this FAITH, we will be COURAGEOUS to live life in accordance to Him, by Him and through Him.