< Back

The Necessity of Faith

It is virtually impossible for a person to live without faith. A thousand times a day, we are called upon to exercise faith—faith in ourselves, faith in God, and faith in others.

For example, you go to a classroom and the teacher begins to teach you about Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Columbus, and many other historical figures. You accept what the teacher says as truth on the basis of faith. You have never seen any one of these men; you have never talked with them by telephone; you have never shaken their hand. You accept by faith the testimony of a competent teacher that these were real people who made a mark upon history. Not only have you never seen them, but neither has your teacher. It’s upon the basis of historical records that the teacher believes and continues to teach you about people that neither of you have ever seen.

Or let's say you are driving down the highway. You drive along by faith, for you do not know for certain that the road does not dead end just over the hill. You do not know for sure that a bridge has not been washed away and you might tumble to your death. But you do have faith and confidence in the highway department that if there were some danger ahead they would issue sufficient signs and warnings so that you could avoid disaster.

Perhaps you get sick and you go to a doctor who writes a prescription that you cannot read for something you cannot pronounce. You take it to a pharmacist you do not know who gives you medicine that you do not understand. And the whole transaction is a matter of faith. You believe that the doctor is competent. You believe that the pharmacist is reliable. You believe that the medicine is what it is supposed to be. So you take it and you are healed ... and all of it involves faith.

You see, in life, a thousand times every day we do exercise faith. In order to build a happy, sensible, sane life, we must have faith ... faith in ourselves, faith in other people, faith in the future. But most of all, we need faith in God.

Broad categories to help your search
Even more refined tags to find what you need
Paul W. Powell - www.PaulPowellLibrary.com

Today's Devotional

Missed yesterday's devotional?

Get it

Want to search all devotionals?

Go

Want to receive the weekday devotional in your inbox?

Register