“You will when you believe.”

That is the ending lyric from the song When You Believe popularized in 1998 by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston duet, which resonates with what I am going to share here.

Last month, I briefly shared about service as the essence of every work we do. These days, I am reminded again about the significance of faith in life. Doing great service to others is equally important with having faith in our works. Life is like a coin with two sides engraved with the words “Service to people” on one side and “Faith in God” on the other.

Faith is something we cannot see, but whether we realize it or not, we virtually exercise our faith every day. Faith is simply inseparable from life. The following examples may be a confirmation:

• We travel (either by car, bus, or plane) with trust on the professionalism of the driver/pilot that will take us safely to our destination;
• We eat in the restaurant with trust on the professionalism of the chef in regard to the food hygiene (e.g., no poison would be present);
• We buy some stuffs online with trust on the reliability of the vendor in regard to the quality and delivery of the products;
• We go to bed and sleep at night with trust on the security of our neighborhood;
• We wake up and start our day with trust on the continuity of our work and life;
• We apply for a job with trust on the prospect of the company;
• We hire an employee with trust on his personality, ability, and availability;
• We pray with trust on God who answers prayers;
• etc.

Many things in life (if not everything) are essentially based on trust. Every relationship is built on trust. So, while the heart of every work is service, it is no exaggeration to say that the heart of every relationship is trust. 

In fact, the Bible says that faith is the substance of things we hope for and the evidence of things we do not see (Hebrews 11:1) and whatever is not based on faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Therefore, the only way to live righteously is by faith (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38, Habakkuk 2:4) since without faith we can never please God (Hebrews 11:6).

The most precious thing we will offer to someone is faith (trust). Being faithful (trustworthy) is reciprocally the most valuable thing someone will expect from us. Think about it if that someone is our Maker, the Creator of the universe. Will we live by faith in Him?

We will when we believe.

Late night contemplation,

Vancouver, September 30, 2019