Faith - not Blind but with Open Eyes! ...

Wednesday, Jan 3, 2018. “Rachel, I will pick you up after your meeting at 11pm,” said Thomas. “Just walk down the road, cross the footbridge and I will be waiting there on the other side with my car.” When Rachel walked down the road later that day, it was dark already, and somehow Rachel felt uneasy. What if Thomas would not be there? She felt a little lost alone in a foreign city. But she knew she could trust Thomas, and so she walked a little faster looking forward to meeting her friend.

$ASCII�� JKJK'�\# ��@��k��?h��2��zf��l��-��<��.�E��@�� M��Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�Q3�af�af�af�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�af�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�af�Q3�Q3�af�af�af�Q3�af�af�af�Q3�af�1"�af�Q3�Q3�af�af�af�af�af�af�af�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�qf�!"�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�af�af�af�af�af�af�Q3�Q3�af�af�qf�A3�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�af�af�af�af�af�af�Q3�Q3�af�qf�af�"w�Q3�af�Q3�Q3�af�af�af�af�af�af�Q3�Q3�qf�qf�r� �1"�Q3�af�Q3��af�af�af�af�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�qf�r� �af�Q3�Q3�af�Q3�Q3�af�af�af�af�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�af�qf�Q3�Q3�qf�Q3�af�af�af�af�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�qf�qf�qf�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�af�Q3�Q3�af�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�af�qf�r� �af�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�af�Q3�Q3�Q3�� Q3�Q3�af�Q3�Q3�qf�aU�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�Q3�Q3�� Q3�Q3�af�b� �b� �aU�aU�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�b� �b� �b� �qU�Q3��Q3�Q3�af�b� �af�af�Q3�Q3�Q3�af�b� �b� �b� �qU�Q3�af�af�A3�Q3�1"�Q3�b� �b� �af�Q3�af�b� �b� �b� �qU�xw��C��;��`��h��H6�aj��!h��&h��&h��&h��&h��FAFA��0��FAFAe��1U��1U�X��1U�f��1U�p�z�1U�x��q�1U��1U��+�1U��[�1U��1U��8�1U��R�1U��R�1U��FAFA��.��.��F��3��ZP��M�I��FAFA��F�� m ��e �� J��DH��0��-��j��J�� P��d��U��q��t��...$

With open Eyes …

Trust is something which needs a sound basis. Rachel knew her friend Thomas, and she knew she could trust him. She had faith in him, that he would wait for her at the other side of the bridge. Her faith was not a blind faith, but it was a faith based on experience, based on facts.

Too often, people think of faith as some general guessing. They think that someone who has faith is believing a statement which he does not know. But the faith which the bible describes is not like this. It is not guessing. It is not a conjecture. It is much more like the faith of Rachel in our story: based on friendship. Christian faith is based on insight and experience. Nothing less is needed.

You are not asked to believe blindly! You are asked to open your eyes and see. You are asked to listen, to understand, and then when you get to know God, you are asked to trust him. The New Testament is about light, about the miracle of healing blind eyes. It is about gaining insight into this world, into God being there, above it, behind it, in it, everywhere. We are asked to open our eyes and see!

See and Trust …

There is still a step between insight and trust. You can know someone is a friend, but still not live the trust. And you can make a decision to trust someone. That might be in a particular situation, like Rachel who trusts Thomas to pick her up at the other side of the bridge.

The bible talks about trust in an even deeper way. She talks about trusting God with our whole life, with all what we are, what makes us valuable, what gives us hope and goals, with our whole existence. Biblical faith is this deep trust, which gives your life into the hands of God. You do not need anything else than him - he is the creator anyway. He is your heavenly father, the one who was there from the beginning, and the one who will be there when time comes to an end.

This biblical trust, which Jesus is asking for, is a whole life style. It is a complete mode of existence. It is a whole world by itself. It is easy to enter: we are asked to trust God like a little kid trusts its parents. Come to God like the kids do, they have open hearts to trust and to build relationships to people. And then learn and love him with all what you have, with all your heart, your mind and your soul. (Roland Potthast) ... further texts