Humanly thinking

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. (I Corinthians 1:18, 20-21)

Human wisdom only goes so far. Divine wisdom gets beneath the surface to see the crux or intention of that which is being considered. If God had relied upon human wisdom to share the message of hope that is inherent in the cross and resurrection of Christ, we'd still be trying to analyze it and find ways to poke holes in the 'theory' of the cross. Oh, wait...we ARE still debating the validity of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection, aren't we? Human minds will never be able to comprehend the fully divine side of Jesus coming to this earth, taking on human form, and then being the perfect sacrifice for all of mankind's sins. We need the wisdom that comes from the heart of God, not that which comes from the mind of man to rely upon the message of hope found in Jesus. The good news is that even when we lack the 'wisdom' to believe in Christ, God gives us just enough to make us realize we need him in our lives!

The faith to believe in Christ doesn't take a thorough understanding of all he accomplished - it takes us stepping into the gift of faith God gives and 'wisdom' to say yes to his invitation to be made anew in him. The world will always debate 'faith' because it is not something we can really put into a box. Hebrews 11:1 reminds us, "Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see." We cannot 'see' the depths of God's love, but we can experience it. We may not 'hear' his audible voice, but we can feel the assurance of his direction in our lives. We might not 'feel' his presence with us always, but we can trust his promise that he never leaves us or abandons us. Faith is trusting what we cannot see. I sit upon this chair today 'in faith' that it will hold my weight while I write this blog. I turn on the computer 'in faith' that the connection will be made to the internet and the resources I need will be at my fingertips. I turn on the oven 'in faith' that the roast will be cooked in a little over an hour. We do a whole lot more than we might realize based upon 'faith'.

Faith might be placed in something 'natural' that we can feel or see, like the computer, chair, and oven. Faith is also placed in what we cannot physically see, feel, or touch - Christ's love, his death for us, his victory over death, hell, and the grave, and his continued intercession for all of his children at the right hand of his Father, God. Human wisdom would tell us it is silly to trust in such things. Divine wisdom reminds us that it would be sillier to NOT trust in these things! Just sayin!