How Faith Looks In Real Life

There is a short story by James Thurber with the title The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It's about a mild mannered man who day dreams that he is a Super Hero. From scene to scene Mitty goes from one adventure to another, always defeating some evil enemy or rescuing a beautiful woman. In his own mind, Walter Mitty is the quintessence "go-to" man in dangerous situations.

When Christians read about believers from the past who demonstrated heroic faith we tend to transport ourselves back in time and imagine how glamorous it would be if we could have the same type of experiences. The truth is, however, when it comes to exercising faith, no Christian is a Super Hero. This Sunday (10:00 am) we are going to study two powerful examples of faith to see how it looks in real life. In the first we find the disciples fighting for their lives while caught in a vicious storm on the Sea of Galilee. In the second we meet a desperate mother with a gravely ill daughter who has no one to turn to but Jesus. She clings to her hope that he can help, but will he?

What we find in both stories are not superhuman people with superhuman courage, but rather people who had nowhere else to turn. They recognized Jesus was the only one who could rescue them and they humbly admitted their need before him. None of the people are glamorous. Instead, they are common folks fighting for their lives, fully aware that without Jesus Christ, they have no chance of winning. Sound familiar? It should. That's really a description of every Christian as he/she journeys through life. It may not be glamorous, but it is victorious through Jesus. And that is what life is all about, isn't it?

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 3:13-14)