What I’ve learnt about faith over the years is that it sometimes portrays you as a liar or a fool who is denying reality. There are times where it feels like you are lying to yourself and to the world. We often say, “I want God to speak”, but, in my experience, when God speaks, the things he says are so far removed from the reality that you are living in. It’s understandable that people constantly ask themselves, “Did I hear correctly?”

How does this even make sense? Or, as we say these days, “make it make sense”. How do you get your mind to perceive the mysteries God is revealing? How do you explain to people the things that God is telling you? As one of our gospel artists, Bugembe, sang years ago, “Ebintu bye olumu bibuzabuza”. For those who don’t understand Luganda, the translation is “His things are sometimes confusing”.

I do not even know why I am surprised because, in describing faith, Jesus taught that even if it is as small as a mustard seed (arguably the smallest seed in the world), you can tell a mountain to move, and it can move and throw itself in the sea (Matthew 17:20). A mountain is something that doesn’t move, so why would Jesus use such an analogy? This illustrates that there are many aspects of faith that defy explanation.

I have seen in life that God can speak to a nation or a church, but many times he speaks to you alone, even in a sea of people. This is what makes it the hardest. If I’m in a church, why doesn’t God simply instruct the pastor to share the message with everyone present? Instead, he speaks to a heart. And now you have to explain to others what you have personally heard and interestingly, there is no way to verify what you are saying! When Saul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, the men accompanying him heard a voice but did not see because he revealed himself to Saul alone! Saul had to explain to the men who were with him that he had met Jesus, the one he was persecuting (Acts 9:1-9).

I think of Joseph. How could Joseph, in prison, explain to his fellow inmates that he once had a dream in which the sun and moon were bowing to him? Or even assert that he believed that dream – when he found himself, a slave serving an indefinite prison sentence (Genesis 39)? I think of David, whom Samuel anointed to be king but Israel already had a king and princes who were ready to take the throne. No wonder Samuel was afraid to go. And remember, David did not even have the stature of a king. His family limited his potential to only caring for sheep (1 Samuel 16).

I think of Mary telling Joseph she was expecting a child, but she was still a virgin! If she were in today’s generation, she would justify the statement “fear women”. How would she explain that she, out of all women, would give birth to Jesus? Shouldn’t Jesus have chosen a wealthier, more educated, or influential family? Afterall, nothing good came out of Nazareth in that time (Luke 1:26-38). And could it be that Mary, not being able to find the words to explain the happenings in her life, chose instead to keep and ponder those things in her heart (Luke 2:19)?

I think of God telling Moses to lead people out of Egypt, and yet the path he led him through ended in a sea! We expect that if he says move, there should be a path of dry land or even a mountain because they could climb that. But a body of water? I wonder what Moses was thinking when he told the people that God had sent him to deliver them, only to find themselves facing a sea (Exodus 14)! And I think of God telling Peter to cast his nets again, in the deep waters at that – and catch fish – but this man had tried all night and failed. What had changed (Luke 5:4-11)?

These and many other Bible characters demonstrate that the fathers of faith experienced moments that could have been perceived as dishonest. And I know we are not the first to face challenging situations, where everything else does not work and the only thing left is faith. David captured it well “I had fainted if I had not believed to see the goodness of God in the land of the living (Psalms 27:13)“. These witnesses remind us that faith may not always make sense, yet it remains effective. They believed God even though every time he spoke, there was nothing that seemed favorable about it. He only asked them to believe, and they heeded to him – in simple faith (Hebrews 11).

I have learnt that when God speaks, he doesn’t always provide all the details; in fact, he never does. Yet faith requires you to take him at his word. He did not tell David that it would take him more than10 years to become king, nor did he tell Joseph that he would face betrayal, slavery and prison before realizing his dream.

However, the best part about the Bible is that we know how the story ends: in one day, Joseph moved from a prisoner to a governor; he was the father of Pharaoh; Mary gave birth to the savior of the world; God split the Red Sea for Moses; and David became king. Therefore, we can confidently say “It will end in praise!” It may not make sense for us now because, as the Bible says, we see in part, and as it turns out, we always see the smallest part. God sees all, so faith in the end wins; it produces results (1 Corinthians 13:9-12).

I am discovering that the journey of faith is a challenging one; it necessitates me to step outside of my comfort zone and maintain faith even in the face of overwhelming evidence that it won’t happen. I’ve learned to cling to His word – as the surest evidence – that everything will indeed happen as he said (Hebrews 11:1, Matthew 28:6).

There are times you fail at something and God says try it again. You prayed for someone, but they didn’t heal; you preached, but people didn’t convert; you tried a job, but it didn’t work out, and God says, “Try again”. What guarantees that this time will be different when nothing has changed? The only guarantee you will get is that God can be trusted – so you put your faith in him. The just shall live by faith – is repeated 3 times in the Bible – for emphasis (Romans 1:17,Galatians 3:11,Hebrews 10:38).

Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.”