Faith vs. reason?
What I see in today’s reading is this: balance.
Do we think a problem through and go with our own solution, never asking God or looking in His word to know what He thinks? Do we float along on what we think is the Christian thing to do, easily influenced by spiritual-sounding people?
You guessed it – neither of those work. And it’s a very old question that we’re pondering today: is faith in opposition to reason? I would venture to say, no. Actually, they go together pretty well.
I enjoyed what Neil had to say about reason: we are required by God to think and choose. To do any less than that is irresponsible. We might sit around waiting for divine revelation, but it won’t come until we’ve done our homework. But if we have, we can know this: God will show up.
We’ve talked in previous posts about making decisions. In case you missed it, one way my husband and I arrive on a decision is to talk, pray, and reason it out, and make a preliminary decision. Then we see if God gives us peace about it. We don’t commit to anything until we both feel peace.
I was struck by what Neil had to say at the end – that when we spend time and effort thinking about a plan that we know is against what God’s word says or what we know to be true of Him, we’re setting up an escape route. The act of thinking on it instead of dismissing it increases our likelihood of carrying out a plan that’s not God’s way.
Lord, help me keep faith and reason balanced in my life today…
No comments:
Post a Comment