Faith – A Rules Changer

My daughter is five years old, and already she is very clever.  If you ever cross her, I don’t envy your position because she is the most cunning strategist that I know at the age of five.  

It all began with a game.  Actually it started when she wanted something that her twin brother had, and she was determined to have it and get it her way.  So she played a game with him.  It was a kicking game, and she made up the rules right then and there.  In a very commanding voice she told her brother, “If I kick you I win, and if you kick me I win and I will win the mask“.   -the mask was what she wanted from her brother.  She had devised a game with rules in place in which the outcomes would benefit her either way.  At no point in this game would her twin brother, who is taller and quicker than she is, have an edge or even a chance to win.  

My daughter’s cleverness made me laugh.  In part I was proud of her for being quick on her feet, yet surprised at the lengths at which she would go just to obtain what she wanted most.  She had devised a strategy in which she could outsmart her brother even though she knew that she was no match for his physicality.  

Sometimes life is kind of like that isn’t it?  We are greatly outmatched and the thing(s) that we want so badly are just beyond our reach.  We want our families to be closer, our health or the health of loved ones/friends to be better, our financial situation more profitable, our jobs more enjoyable, love and respect that goes unfulfilled.  Life can sometimes be like that cruel master which dangles a carrot in from of a donkey just to get it to work and be productive.  We want so desperately to change the rules, to make a life more to our advantage…to win.  But what do we really desire to win?  Will we truly be happy?  Can we really change the rules in life?  

How does faith play into this thing called life?  Is faith important?  The simple answer is YES, absolutely!  Despite how much we might plan for every contingency and strategize for every positive outcome, life doesn’t play according to our rules.  Life can sometimes be unpredictable and we can find ourselves grossly out of winning options.  But faith isn’t some wild card or last resort.  The key is the source behind our faith.  If our source is simply our own powers and motivations we will eventually face disappointment and discouragement.  But if our source is God, in whom made all things and our faith takes us to the understanding that we are indeed loved and important to the Creator then regardless of what happens to us we can have this immeasurable unending faith.  

 Faith is a rules changer.  Faith can propel us from self-sufficiency to something much more sustainable and everlasting…if we allow it to grow in us.  Are you willing to let this kind of everlasting faith take root in you?  Give it a try and perhaps you will begin to see life in a whole new perspective.  

-Just a thought.