Faith

Identity has been on my mind for a few years as something vital to deeply understand. But recently, in the past several months, faith is being highlighted to me as something important that I need to grow in.

Everything we do, we do in faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Amplied version says: "But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him."

I have always been a practical person. I'm also realistic, to a point of almost being pessimistic. Therefore, I have very much relied on statistics and experience (including other people's experiences from hearing their stories, either 2nd or 3rd hand).

The bible does say that God's people die for lack of knowledge and I'm not against experience or wisdom, but I do believe that sometimes our trust in knowledge, wisdom, statistics and experience suffocate our faith in God.  It stifles our faith, joy, hope and love. And we lose sight of the gospel, God's healing power, miracles, His redemption and our beliefs.

The more we trust our experience, the more we fear, because we know so little. The more we trust in God, the greater our confidence, joy and hope, because He is way bigger than we are.

This is a really great article, titled "How to know if you're trusting God or just being stupid"
For me, it is great, because it is not conclusive about exactly what you should do. In many situations, you seek wise counsel, you pray, you use wisdom, but there is still not a black-and-white conclusion. Then there is the final call to make a decision. And you just go for it. I love how it says: "Whatever decision you make, offer it up in faith. Make it faith. Dedicate the decision and outcome to God". There is a reference to Romans 14:23 about the gray area of whether or not to eat food sacrificed to idols: "But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin."
So ultimately, it is important to be single-minded, not double-minded and to make our decisions in faith. To offer your life up to God and every decision up to God in faith. And to pray in faith "with no doubting"  for the one who doubts is a "double-minded man, unstable in all he does" (James 1).

It is so, so reassuring that faith pleases God. Sometimes, we're just so concerned about doing the right thing, when maybe it doesn't matter so much because maybe there isn't one right solution or maybe we're not held accountable for the one right solution, but we are held accountable for our heart and whether or not we had faith.