What is faith to me?

Through the past year or so here at St. Olaf, my experiences and the amazing people around me have gotten me to think about faith. “What is faith to you?” I have asked this question of many of my friends, and countless hours have been spent talking about it, yet I have not reached any definite conclusion. Rather, I’ve found multiple partial-answers and the question seems to generate a certain sense of confusion and even panic that I’ve only ever seen in certain math courses, in physics freshman year, or in the eyes of the music majors in the library the day before their Alice papers are due. It seems to be a question that no one really knows how to answer, and very few seem comfortable even discussing. That aside, faith is an important issue in everyone’s lives, and I think it should be talked about more; it should become a part of the person, a way of life, even the very core of a person’s being.

But in answer to the actual question, what is faith? What is faith to me? I wouldn’t be fair to my roots without a few memorable quotes. Faith is the belief that “God made you special, and He loves you very much,” as the awesome little vegetables tell me every time I watch some Veggietales. Even just that, the simple knowledge that we are His and He loves us, is a lot to live off of. Knowing that we are loved, one of the simplest yet most complex of needs, is so important in one’s life. Just knowing that God loves me no matter what can overwhelm me at times. Who am I, that deserves to be loved? For that matter, who are any of us? But you know what? “God made you special, and He loves you very much!”

Faith isn’t “just” love, either. Faith gives you something to follow. God is there, with you. Talking with my pastor about faith at one point, he compared faith to dancing with God. God is the lead and we are the follows. I’ve always heard that faith is walking with God, but through trusting in Him we can not only walk through life, but dance through life with Him. The music might change, but even if you’re not dancing a quick Lindy Hop or Cha-Cha that day, even if it might be a slow, sad song, He’s still dancing with you and the day will come when you’ll be back to some East Coast or Charleston. "So keep on dancing kid! Jesus is leading!"

As I’ve asked various friends of mine what faith is to them, one of the best answers I’ve received has been from my friend Aaron. As he put it, “faith is an ultimate trust, a trust in something eternal and therefore impossible to fully understand in a human’s lifetime.” I think he’s absolutely right. Even Martin Luther said, “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” In all reality, we do stake our lives on our faith; our salvation depends on it. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). If I trust God with everything, the troubles of this world seem manageable. This total trust gives me freedom, the freedom to let go of having to figure everything out, the freedom from having to know all the answers.

I’ve quoted all the necessary things: Veggietales, Martin Luther, the Bible, and of course I needed to quote at least one pastor and at least one good friend. Yet I’ve failed to mention one important thing. Faith is love. Faith is trust. And, through these, faith is also hope. Faith is hope for the future, both in this life and forever. This hope provides such joy in my life. As Martin Luther said, “Faith is permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see.” Faith in Christ Jesus has seized me, and I am all the happier for it.

Faith is love, faith is trust, faith is hope, and faith is more than you or I or anyone else could ever hope to describe.