Christian Living
Risk means the possibility of loss, injury, or other adverse or unwelcome circumstance; a chance or situation involving such a possibility. This article, the ‘risk’ of the Christian faith considers if faith is a risk or not.
What Is Faith? The Amplified Bible translation is my favorite definition of Faith….
“Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” Hebrews 11:1
From this verse we see that faith is assured and confident of things that are not visible to the human eyes. The verse also shows that faith transcends data, facts, human reality and experience to resting absolutely on a ‘divine guarantee’.
What Is The Divine Guarantee of Faith?
Romans 10:17, Hebrews 11:3, helps us see what this is…..
Romans 10:17 NKJV
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Hebrews 11:3 AMP
“By faith [that is, with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and goodness of God] we understand that the worlds (universe, ages) were framed and created [formed, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose] by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
From these 2 scriptures we see that the source/stimulus of Faith is the Word of God. We also see that Faith has an inherent trust, enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and goodness of God. Hebrews 11:3, tells us that this is how God created and framed the world we are currently living in out of invisible things- through faith in His Word.
So, Inspite of the void and emptiness God was faced with at the beginning, He chose to put His confidence in the power of His Word (Genesis 1:1-3). We can also say the same thing of Abraham, who through faith, fathered a child at 100years of age against all physical and biological realities (Romans 4:18, Genesis 15:5).
Romans 4:18 AMP
“In hope against hope Abraham believed that he would become a father of many nations, as he had been promised [by God]: “So [numberless] shall your descendants be.”
Indeed, the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews elaborates on the Faith of The Patriarchs and many others; people who chose to believe God against odds.
So really, it’s not like FAITH has no idea of other possibilities, rather it MAKES A CONFIDENT CHOICE to believe God.
Faith doesn’t deny facts, rather the reality of faith is the Word of God. Faith BELIEVES and RECEIVES only what God’s Word says.
In summary, irrespective of what is seen with the physical eyes, proven with data, known from experience, Faith chooses to Rest Confidently on what God says.
So there’s the “risk” of Faith; the risk of the Christian faith- this complete trust in God and God’s Word, a ‘risk’ that is only possible when a good knowledge of what God says (for different situations of life) is known and one believes and is convinced of it.
The beautiful thing though about this ‘risk’ is that it is based on something that is fail-proof. The scripture is replete with assurances of the infallibility of the Word Of God (Luke 1:37, Matthew 24:35, Jeremiah 23:29, Isaiah 55:11, Isaiah 40:8, etc).
Luke 1:37 NLT
“For the word of God will never fail.”
Matthew 24:35 NLT
“Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”
Isaiah 40:8 NLT
“The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”
So, this ‘risk’ is worth taking.
Question is: Is the risk taker confident of the Word of God?
The answer to this question is critical and determines one’s experience of the supernatural (Hebrews 11:6).
Now, it would appear from the foregoing, that Making Room (preparing) for Worst Case Scenarios negates the principle of faith. What are your thoughts on this?
