Faith is a stock word found in religious
articles and heard in all churches. To many, it still fits the tongue-in-cheek definition:
faith is believing in something that someone in his right mind wouldn’t believe
in. I enjoy the following story about a little boy with great faith and a man of
little. Who was in his right mind? You be the judge.
A little boy was standing on
a street corner one day when an old man came along. "Boy, what are you doing?"
"I’m waiting for a
bus."
"But the bus stop is
down the street. You have to go down there. You know they never stop except at the bus
stop."
"Oh, that’s okay,
it’ll stop."
"Son, I’m telling
you it won’t. If you want to catch the bus, you’ve got to go down to the bus
stop."
"That’s all right
mister, it’ll stop for me."
"No, it won’t! But
if you want to continue to wait there like a fool...." The old man walked away
muttering to himself, "What’s wrong with these kids today?" Walking slowly
down the street shaking his and still muttering to himself, he heard the screech of
brakes. He quickly turned to see what caused the screech. He couldn’t believe his
eyes! There was a bus, stopped where the boy had stood waiting. As he climbed the step
entering the bus, the boy turned and waved at the old man.
"I told you it would
stop, Mister. My daddy’s the bus driver!"
Who was in his right mind? I
vote for the boy. He demonstrated his faith in something contrary to human wisdom and
beyond physical sight. Charles Fillmore defined faith as "the perceiving power of the
mind linked with the power to shape substance." He also said, "Faith is a deep
inner knowing that that which is sought is already ours for the taking." (Revealing
Word, p.67) The father was willing to pick up his son, but the boy had to know that
his ride would be there for him if he made his desire known by an act of
faith—standing expectantly where he could be seen.
Charles Fillmore’s
definition always left me wondering, "what does that mean?" The perceiving power
of the mind... That is the ability within yourself to see something as happening, or as
possible, or as complete. There have been a lot of things that I could see in my mind that
came to pass, but some of them weren’t things I wanted to happen. The perceiving
power of the mind is not the power to perceive the good alone. We always have faith. It is
one of the fundamental powers of God and divine faculties within man. You neither lack it
nor do you have to pray for more. The key is to ask yourself where you have it invested.
Is it in the presence of God? Is it invested in the presence of your good—in the
presence of life, health, wholeness? Or is it invested in the fear of sickness, disease or
death? Is it in the idea of abundant supply and abundant good or is it in the fear of
lack, that there is not enough and what there is can run out. What happens when we worry
or are afraid? That, too, is faith at work, faith invested in something negative and in
what we don’t want. We have faith in God at times and at other times something else
entirely. Jesus said, "For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it
will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20) What is the
mountain in your life that you would like to move? What is the challenge, the difficulty?
First, remember that right there where something else seems to be, there is only God. All
the power, intelligence and substance of God are right here, right now. If you say to the
mountain, "Be removed," that mountain will be removed if you invest your faith
in God and the presence of good.
Fear says it can’t
happen; faith says it is happening. Fear says it’s not possible; faith says, with God
all things are possible. Fear walks in darkness and faith walks in the light of truth that
wherever you are, God is. Whatsoever you ask in prayer, whatsoever you perceive in your
mind as possible for you, when your faith is invested in good, in God, you can have it.
Though clouds of doubt may hover near,
your faith in God will banish fear.
And ‘round the mountain you will go,
to meet the good that you did sow.