FAITH, OBJECT OF
The degree of faith that one places in a given object is directly proportional to one’s knowledge of the object. For example, consider a man terrified of flying. When he first arrives at an airport he buys insurance at those coin-operated insurance-policy machines. He has his seat belt buckled twenty minutes before take-off and is sure to listen carefully to the routine “emergency instructions.” He has no faith in the ability of the plane to get him to his destination. But, as the journey progresses, this passenger begins to change. He first unbuckles his seat belt, then has some lunch, and pretty soon is talking to the person next to him and joking. Why the change? What happened? Is there more faith at 36,000 feet? Of course not. The more he learned about the object of faith, the plane, the more faith he exercised in that object.
So it is with believers. The more we learn of the Lord, the more faith we can place in him.466
During an earthquake some years ago, the inhabitants of a small village were generally very much alarmed, but they were at the same time surprised at the calmness and apparent joy of an old woman whom they all knew. At length one of them, addressing the old woman, said, “Mother, are you not afraid?”
“No,” said the woman. “I rejoice to know that I have a God who can shake the world.”467
Faith is only as good as its object. A small boy in England was asked by a scientific team to be lowered down the side of a cliff to recover some important specimens. Though the scientists offered to pay him greatly, the boy said no. They tried to persuade him further and he consented finally, but only on one condition—that his father would be the one to hold the ropes by which he would be lowered.468
The object of man’s faith is more important than the amount of his faith. For example, you might have a tremendous volume of faith in the ability of a well-known general to fly you across the Atlantic Ocean, even though he has never flown before. Yet—even with all this faith—if you enter the plane and he does the flying, you will probably end up very wet, or even drowned. The problem with your faith was that the object was not reliable in that particular area. Conversely, you might have only the minutest faith in the ability of an unknown twenty-year vet with 29,000 hours of flying time, yet he would get you where you wanted to go, because now the object of your faith was reliable in the area of your concern.469
The power of faith rests in the reliability of its object. After the first cold week of a Northern winter, I might go down to the shores of the nearby lake and with the utmost confidence begin to stride across the newly formed layer of ice. Unfortunately, I would receive only a cold, wet shock for my trouble. As long as the ice was thin, my faith would be meaningless. But let the winter progress and the cold wind do its work, and eventually the ice will become several feet thick. Imagine that I return to the lake. Now, though I may be frightened because of my previous experience, even the smallest, most hesitating step will be rewarded by the solid feel of firmness underfoot. Faith can now accomplish its task, because its object is worthy.470
Faith is an essential element of life, but the faith must be in God. Sir Donald Malcolm Campbell, the British car-and boat-racer and holder of several world speed records, lost his life while racing a fast boat on one of the lakes of Scotland. The boat exploded and rapidly sank. The only thing that ever surfaced was a toy stuffed animal, Campbell’s “good luck charm.” It was powerless to help him in the final and fatal crisis of his life. Faith is only as good as its object is able.471
The comic Steve Martin once said, “It’s so hard to believe in anything anymore.… I guess I wouldn’t believe in anything if it weren’t for my lucky Astrology Mood Watch.”
No one believes in nothing. Everyone has faith. The only differences are in the object of our faith and its intensity.472