Simple Faith

Tagged by Lauralea who asks me how I would define simple faith in Christ.


At the center of almost every snow crystal is a tiny mote of dust, which can be anything from volcanic ash to a particle from outer space. As the flake descends to earth the crystal grows around that speck and its shape is altered by humidity, temperature, and wind.

The writer of Ecclesiastes says that God has set eternity in the hearts of mankind. I see that as being the tiny mote of dust or the particle of the cosmos that rests within my heart. There is a hunger or desire there at the core of my being, a simple desire to connect with the eternal beyond myself, because myself isn't enough.

For me, raised in a good Christian family, I had a direction to move in, and it was simple and small, but it was a start. I knew God and Jesus Christ, and had a childs faith in them. Of course they existed, even though I couldn't see them. I couldn't see the wind either, but that had power too right?

But, like adding layers to the snowflake causing it to grow into a beauty, so life sends you challenges. This was how it was for me as I went off to college and had to own my own faith in God.

I recall during one serious bout of depression calling out to an unseen God seeking the comfort of knowing he was really there and that I wasn't just fooling myself. That night was one of the darkest I can remember, but he led me through that night and I remember some levels of comfort coming to my spirit.

I also recall some months later waking up, and being surrounded by a glorious lightness in my spirit. It was like being in love -without the presence of another human being. That sense followed me for days, lighting my path and lightening my load. I was being shaped. An active relationship with Jesus was being formed and grown.

Since that season of my life I have never really doubted that he is here and I am his. Not like I used to doubt anyway.

And our relationship continues to grow. Layers are added to me that cause me to look unique and, at least in God's eyes, make me look beautiful.

We interact together. I seek to be available to him, and he is always to me. Through these years we have grown this relationship together and I find that he is The Eternal I was always seeking.

And it's good. Not always easy mind you, but nothing of value is ever really easy. It began with a simple faith to choose to believe, and from there we have grown together through these years.

Faith for me was a simple response to the eternal I felt in my spirit, and as I took steps towards God, he was able to reveal himself to me, and we grew in relationahip.

It can get quite complex if we let it, just as most relationships can get I suppose. But the simple heart of the matter is captured in that childs song that we all need to keep singing:

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.