Now Faith Has Come

My life has become (forever, I hope) a wild adventure of faith. As a result, when I read various passages of scripture, they make a lot more sense. Like Paul’s statement: Until faith came, we had the law as our tutor/schoolmaster; but now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. We can theorize about that statement for as long as we’d like, but I strongly suspect it means just what it says.

I’m putting an addition on my house. The house I have is plenty big enough for my present needs, and there is a possibility that I may need to take on debt in order to complete the addition. I could give you—because other people have given me—at least two dozen very logical reasons why I should not build an addition.

I don’t need it now. When I do get married, my husband can pay to have an addition put on. What if my husband doesn’t want to live in this house? What if he doesn’t like the way I’ve done the addition? What if I never get married? It is bad to go into debt for something that I don’t need. I should be frugal in my design, and not use expensive things that will add to my comfort. Other people can sleep in eighty-plus degrees, so I should, also. There is still a problem with my septic system that I’ve neither had diagnosed nor fixed, and I shouldn’t spend money on an addition until I’ve fixed that problem.

Mind you, nearly every item on the list of reasons why I shouldn’t build this addition is logical and rational and very sound advice. They are all wise comments.

But faith has come. And when faith comes, we are no longer under the tutelage of the law. Faith has an entirely different sphere of logic. The logic of faith goes something like, ‘God put the addition in my heart, right alongside of the confirmation that He had already in fact given me a husband. He now is giving me the faith to build it, so that when my husband comes, everything will be ready for him. Since the Lord told me to build, He’ll pay for it, and at some point after the building is complete, He will bring a husband for me.’

The cool thing about faith is that, unlike the law, it shows up differently in every life. The law puts everyone in the same boat. It tells you not to build unless you are completely crammed for space. Faith always prepares—mentally, emotionally, physically, or materially—for the future. Faith builds an ark when there has never been a flood. Faith wanders about, claiming for itself a land that is far, far too big to be inhabited or cared for by its lonesome self, knowing there will be a nation in the future.

Faith is not limited by anything but God’s words.

And now faith has come.

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