Faith is the journey from believing in God to trusting God.

This, to me, is the simplest description of the journey of faith: From believing in God to trusting God. This is the journey we take when we become a follower of Jesus – not simply to go through life believing that God exists, but to learn to trust God more and more. The journey of faith begins with believing in God, of course. After all, you cannot trust something (or someone) that you do not believe exists. The journey begins there, but it does not end there.

God wants more from us than to simply believe that God exists. When you think about it, even the devil believes that God exists. He knows it, in fact. But does the devil have faith? Does he trust God? No, obviously. So faith clearly means more than simply to believe in God.

Faith implies that we not only believe in God, but trust in God. And that journey from belief to trust is the journey of faith and the journey of a lifetime. It occurs step by step. We respond to the call from Jesus to follow him. We walk in his steps, we live as he taught. We pray, we worship, we love and we serve, we stumble, we fall, and we are helped up, over and over.

Some days it can feel like we are able to walk on water. Our faith is deep and strong. Other days? We see the storm around us, like Peter once did, and we begin to sink. Lord, help us! And he does. Takes us by the hand, and helps us on the way. Then he challenges us to have more faith, to trust him. Trust him! And so it goes, step by step, like a child learning to walk, we learn to trust.

[Jesus] said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Luke 7:50

Our faith saves us and sends us in peace. Not just believing in God, but learning to trust Jesus. Believing in God does not heal us or make us whole. The Greek word used for saved – “sozo” – means to be saved, but also to be healed and to be made made whole. That is what Jesus wants for us, to be healed and made whole. And it is only by learning to trust in Jesus that we are truly healed. It is only by living a loving and trusting relationship with God that we are made whole. Jesus came to give us that. He came to reconcile us, to heal us from a lifetime of hurt, and to fill our souls with God’s amazing love. It is a love that does not remove the scars that life gives us, but that makes us whole and gives us peace.

Our faith in Jesus saves us. Nothing else will. Trusting in Jesus gives us peace. Like nothing else can. And it is the journey of faith that all of us followers of Jesus are on: the journey from believing in God to trusting God. Blessings to you on your journey.