‘By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command…’ (Hebrews 11:3)
What is faith? How do we understand faith, what do we mean when we say we have faith, how can we describe faith? Surely these are questions that have been asked since the dawn of creation – and are still being asked today. Of course, every day of our lives we put our faith in many different people and situations and in these times in particular we are putting our faith in all who are devoting themselves to healing and helping those with coronavirus, doing what they can to save lives and protect others.
According to Thomas Merton, who was a Cistercian Monk, ‘Ultimately, faith is the only key to the universe…’ and perhaps here he was alluding to the kind of faith expressed in our Bible verse for today – that faith which can only come from God. This kind of faith is not something that is tangible in any way, not something that is visible or that you can touch. Rather it is believing that in every situation we finds ourselves in, good and bad, by His Spirit God is always with us. In our laughter and joy, in our pain and weeping, in good times and bad, faith is knowing in your heart that the Lord is always with you. Faith won’t stop bad things happening but faith will help us find a way through by assuring us that the Lord is sharing in everything we are going through and in Him we can find an inner source of strength, comfort and peace that only He can give.
Lord, we give You thanks for all today who are devoting themselves to helping others, especially so at this time, and pray that You would keep them safe and well. We ask also that You might increase our faith. Help us to know that You are always with us and that we can turn to You day and night. All this we ask in Jesus name, Amen