Hi. Many people think that faith means having
all the answers. I used to think something like
that myself, that faith and certainty were closely
connected, that if I could just find enough answers,
enough evidence, enough understanding, then I
would finally arrive. But over time, I've come
to see faith differently. When I read the Bible,
I do not see a collection of people who have
everything figured out. I see people on journeys.
One of my favorite examples is Abraham. God takes
Abraham outside and asks him to look up at the
night sky. And then God says, count the stars,
if indeed you can count them. Well, of course,
Abraham could not count them. There were too
many. But the point was not arithmetic. The point
was imagination. God was inviting Abraham to
consider a future larger than he currently could
see. A future beyond his experience, beyond his
circumstances, beyond what seemed possible. And
I've always found that fascinating. Faith begins
with curiosity. What if God is doing something
bigger than I realize? What if the future holds
possibilities I cannot yet see? What if my current
understanding is only part of a much larger story?
Author Peter Enns writes about this, and he calls
the sin of certainty. The point is not that truth
doesn't matter. His point is that certainty can
sometimes become a substitute for trust. That
distinction has transformed my thinking. Trust
and certainty are not the same thing. Certainty
says, I know exactly how this will turn out.
Trust says, I am willing to keep walking. Now,
it may seem like a surprise, but mathematics
has truly helped me understand this. If you think
about it, numbers are abstract. You cannot hold
the number three in your hand. You cannot point
to infinity. And you cannot see a function walking
down the street. And yet, I have no trouble believing
these things are real. And it's not because I
can touch them, but because I can see their effects.
I can see the patterns they create. And I can
see how they help make sense of the world. For
me, That has been a helpful way to think about
God. God is not an object that can be placed
under a microscope. And yet, I see traces of
God in beauty, in love, in truth, even transformation.
Mathematics has taught me that something can
be abstract and real. And that has helped me
remain open to a God who is beyond my ability
to fully understand. And maybe that's one reason
faith and curiosity belong together. Both require
us to look beyond what is immediately visible.
Both invite us to imagine possibilities beyond
our current understanding. And both remind us
that the story is not finished. And maybe that
is why God asked Abraham to look at the stars.
Not so that he could count them. but so that
he could imagine a future larger than himself.
Perhaps faith still begins the same way, by looking
beyond what we can see and remaining curious
about what might still be possible.