When Zechariah is praying in the temple and encounters an angel promising that his wife will have a son, his response is " How can this be?" Others in the Bible ask this same question; Mary, at the promise of a son and Nicodemus when questioning Jesus about being born again. We operate in the realm of the rational, expecting gravity and time to be mercilessly consistent, yet God expects us also to operate in the realm of faith.
How then do we know when to be rational and when to have faith beyond reason? Not surprisingly, I cannot give you an answer to this, but I think it is a good question. As we grapple with this, I think we should develop a right worldview, learning through science how things work and through faith, of a God whose loves transcends the natural way of things.
Returning to Zechariah, I find his response to God interesting. It is the sort of response I often make to God, one that is a toe in the water sort of faith rather than diving in headlong. Tom Wright calls Zechariah's response half faith. He says "God regularly works through ordinary people, doing what they normally do, holding themselves ready for whatever God has in mind with a mixture of half-faith and devotion."
Jesus said "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Matthew 17:20 [NIV]
I found this encouraging.
Jon Seaton
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