Recently a sister in Christ asked why James considered it important to have faith in good times so that our faith in tough times will be strong. At first the question puzzled me: I had never questioned faith. Like most Christians, I recognized that faith is an essential element in salvation and I kind of left things there. I guess I knew that faith was important at all times but I never gave a lot of thought about faith being required for successful Christian living. Yes, I knew that faith was important; but I guess I just thought that my faith in Jesus saving me would carry over into my walk with Jesus. The truth is, we not only must have faith in Jesus as our savior but we must also have faith in God being an active part of our daily lives.
There is an old analogy, which associates sitting down in a chair to faith. We do not inspect the chair to determine its strength; we just sit down believing the chair will hold us. We know that some chairs have failed and as a result people have been injured. Still, our past experience with chairs, which were strong enough to hold us, gives us sufficient faith in the chair that we just go ahead and sit down. Our faith in sitting down in a chair is almost instinctive and this is the way we should develop our daily faith in God.
We have faith in Jesus as our savior because we have heard the word of God and, as a new creation in Christ; we have embraced the gospel message. Now as a Christian, we must listen to the word of God to understand His will; and we must have the faith to believe that God will be there to help us live a Christian life. This is not a faith of logic or human reasoning. This must be an instinctive faith: a strong and steadfast belief that God will be with you at all times and under all conditions. We need to have a faith in God that is automatically there when we need it and not something that we have to search for or generate through a frenzy of religious activity. For example, have you ever watched a basketball player dribble the ball? If the player has properly trained their mind and body they will instinctively handle the ball, leaving their mind open to determine the next move they will make.
A seasoned basketball player will not have to concentrate on how to handle the ball: ball handling will have become an instinctive reaction. It is the same way with our daily Christian faith. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and that He sacrificed His life for our salvation. Our faith in the salvation power of Jesus is good but we also need to have faith that God is with us at all times and under all conditions. Our faith in God needs to be so strong and so steady that our Christian reaction to life is controlled by an instinctive faith in God: at all times and even in the hard times.
Instinctive faith does not just happen; instinctive faith is the result of our relationship with God. That is why we must not confuse faith with knowledge and belief. For example: in a confidence course we are sometimes tasked with crossing over a rope bridge. I see the bridge and thus I know that it is there. I see the size of the rope and I truly believe that it will hold my weight. Still I am hesitant, because I cannot help but question the rope's capability for really holding me up. The only way I can ever get the faith to cross the bridge is to just go ahead and do it. And, that probably will not happen unless I have a good coach to help me calm my nerves and build up my confidence.
Once I have crossed the bridge I will have changed. Crossing the bridge helps me transform knowledge and belief into faith. Each subsequent time I cross the rope bridge it will get easier. Eventually I will be so focused on developing my bridge crossing skills that there will be absolutely no fear in the bridge failing: my faith in the bridge has become strong and steady. It is the same way with Christian faith. We can know all about God and we can truly believe all that we know; but without developing a living relationship with God we will never have instinctive faith in God.
To develop instinctive faith in God we must learn what God expects from our relationship with Him and then we must step out in faith and live that relationship. In Romans 10:17 Paul told the Romans: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." In 1 Corinthians 2:5 he told the people that: "your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." The only way to build instinctive faith is to know the word of God and then to apply faith in living our lives according to our knowledge of the word of God. Every day we must live life with our minds and hearts focused on letting our relationship with God control how we react to the things that life brings our way.
Maintaining a faithful and loving relationship with God is easy when things are going good; it is not so easy to walk in faith when the going gets tough. The psalmist said that he did not fear the valley of the shadow of death because God was with him. He did not say that he prayed for God to be with him or that he hoped God would be with him, he said: "for thou art with me!" In the good times, and in the bad times, David's faith in God did not waver.
In fact, James said: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance (James 1:2-3)." If we are to have an attitude that can rejoice in the face of trials we need to have already developed a relationship of instinctive faith with God. Every waking moment of our lives we need to be practicing James 4:7-8 "Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." If we truly know God, and if we have a Christian relationship with God, our faith will be instinctive and it will not waver: even in the bad times.