The True Definition Of Faith
Not too long ago, I had a dream where I met a young teenage girl and her mother. The girl had a deadly disease that affected her internal organs, was incredibly pale and thin, and I saw big red welts up her arm. Despite her condition, she was peppy and full of exuberance. I am not sure if I told them explicitly, but somehow they found out that I was of a spiritual inclination and became immediately excitable.
The girl and her mother apparently thought that me being “spiritual” meant I was some miracle worker. They then chirpingly inquired if I could give them some kind of revelation about the girl’s health condition. I am not sure if they were spiritual or Christian, but what they were seeking was something akin to a “word from the Lord” (what modern people may call a “prophesy,” though this term is largely misused). Somehow I could sense they wanted me to tell them that the girl would be cured of her disease and live a long life.
I saw my face in the dream and my heart sank. Although I wanted to bring them cheer, my conscience could not bring me to say something that I didn’t hear from God—at least not in that moment. If I said this just to make them feel better, it would be a lie. So I kept it very general, not feeding into their expectation of a prophesy of the girl being cured and instead complimenting the girl for her vibrant character, which was observable and truthful.
This dream was so interesting to me because this scenario is everywhere in the world from people of all walks of life. We call the pastor or ask others to pray for a sickly loved one and hope they will extend their life.
While I do think that we can pray for someone’s health to be restored or longevity, and intercessory prayer is powerful, we must also understand God’s sovereignty in all of this. I am not saying we should not pray by the way or be full of doubt, just that we must manage our expectations when it comes to what we want.
To elaborate, most people think that faith is believing you will be guaranteed a desired outcome, whether that be related to health, a job opportunity, financial provision, success, a soulmate, or healing we wish for another.
But this is somewhat of a short-sighted view for a couple reasons:
What we desire may not be in alignment with God’s highest will for our lives. And when we believe we must have something due to “faith,” we are not allowing ourselves to be fully surrendered to God’s will. We are, in essence, being self-willed.
If you think faith means being guaranteed something, you can blame yourself if it doesn’t happen, when there can be a variety of reasons what you wanted did not occur. Take the example of the dream I mentioned above. Many people could be praying in “faith” for the girl to live a long life of a normal lifespan, but if she has an early death, does this mean their prayers failed due to a lack of “faith”? If she herself prayed earnestly in faith and passed away young, would this mean she lacked faith? No, it does not. Although it may sound tragic on the surface, situations like these are often part of God’s will.
Believing faith means being guaranteed an outcome can be a form of trying to predict the future. Don’t get me wrong: I think it’s a good idea to have general desires and do what is in our power for them to be more likely to happen. But we don’t fully 100% know if something will happen, at least not in the way many people believe.
Here is my definition of faith:
Faith is trusting in the Lord’s highest divine providence. This may include the things we desire, but it does not always mean that.
