Believe

Text: Florian Bockholt/Anna Davydova

Believe

The topic of faith has been on my mind lately. I asked myself the question "What is faith?".

What is the basis of belief, how does belief arise, what are the effects of belief.

In my search for an answer to this question, the following two stories in the Bible caught my eye:

Jesus left this area and returned with his disciples to his hometown of Nazareth. On the Sabbath he taught in the synagogue there. Many people listened to him and were deeply impressed by him. They asked, "How is this even possible? Where does he get this wisdom from? How can such miracles happen through him? He's the carpenter, Maria's son. We know his brothers James, Joses, Judas and Simon. And his sisters also live here with us.” That's how they turned him down. Then Jesus said: "Nowhere is a prophet less respected than in his home country, among his relatives and in his own family." Therefore he could not work miracles there. He laid his hands on some who were sick and healed them. He marveled at the disbelief of the people. Jesus went into the surrounding villages and taught there.

Mark 6:1-6 NIV

Among the people was a woman who had been suffering from heavy bleeding for twelve years. She had been treated by many doctors, suffered greatly and spent all her fortune. But nobody could help her. Her suffering had only gotten worse. Then she heard about Jesus. So she pushed her way up behind him through the crowd and secretly touched his robe. Because she said to herself: "If I can at least touch his clothes, I'm sure I'll get better." And indeed: the bleeding stopped immediately and she felt that she was relieved of her suffering.

Mark 5:25-29 NIV

Jesus said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. go in peace You are healthy."

Mark 5:34 NIV

In the first story we see that people didn't believe in Jesus, they didn't trust in his healing and his teachings and they hardly experienced any miracles.

We see the opposite of this in the second story, that the woman who had no more hope put all her trust in Jesus. She believed with all her heart that Jesus could heal her and would be healed.

I myself have seen this year how trusting God turns difficult situations into blessings.

Earlier this year I did a trial job at a good facility. I spoke to God and he promised me that I would work there. In conversation with the management it turned out that I would not be employed and I was quite irritated and disappointed. God promised it to me. I didn't understand. Friends of mine thought I must have misheard.

Over the next few months, I applied to several positions without success. Five months later, I found out through the work colleagues of a family member that the same institution was looking for a new employee in a different position. I didn't want to at first, but I remembered God's promise. I'm back for an interview. In a big leap of faith, I did another 3-week trial period and was actually taken on there. This gives me a very good spot that corresponds exactly to what I bet for.

It took a lot of trust in God's promise for me to walk this path, despite previous disappointment.

Are there situations in your life where you gave up hope? What is stopping you from taking the step of faith and trusting God? Through this blog post I want to encourage you not to give up your hope and trust that God will always keep his promises despite the most adverse circumstances.