*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

I once learned an unforgettable lesson from an invoice I received in the mail. It was from the insurance company that provided coverage for our ministry. I had petitioned them several months earlier, asking that they cut our quarterly payment of $1,500 in half. According to their literature, this reduction was possible under certain conditions, which I felt we met. Reducing the payment this much would be a considerable help financially to our ministry, which was still in its early stage.

I wasn’t at all certain the company would grant my request, though, for their brochure was ambiguous. I carefully crafted a letter explaining why I thought we qualified, then followed it up with about a half-dozen phone calls. I also requested that they make the change retroactive and reimburse us for past overpayments. In the end I felt I was getting nowhere, fighting an enormous bureaucracy with no concern for the little guy.

Finally their invoice arrived. Frankly, I expected the worst, and as I read their statement I found my negative expectations rewarded. It was a bill for $1,500--simply business as usual. My efforts had been to no avail.

It wasn’t till several days later that I reread the statement and realized I had overlooked one small detail. Following “$1,500” were two letters--”CR”--the abbreviation for “CREDIT.” They were not billing us $1,500 but refunding us that amount!

The invoice, in short, revealed that I had succeeded in petitioning the company. But in my skeptical spirit I had read it to say just the opposite.

The Perils of Pessimism

Our expectations so dramatically affect our view of reality. When we expect a positive outcome, we’re alert to indications of success that come our way. But when we expect failure, we can miss the signs of success altogether or even read them mistakenly as proofs of defeat. As my experience with the invoice shows, missing some small detail can make all the difference in how we interpret a situation.

It’s to this end that the Scriptures warn us so frequently of the tragic dangers of hardness of heart. “Hardness of heart” is the biblical term for loss of optimism, particularly regarding our expectations of God.

Faith, as Scripture understands it, is the diametrical opposite of hardness of heart. While the one expects the worst of God, the other expects the best of him. Faith is an exceedingly hopeful, trusting and confident perspective. From the viewpoint of faith we see our lives not only realistically but optimistically as well. The small details that signify God’s care and provision for us are much less likely to escape our notice.

Had my expectations been more faith-inspired when I first examined that invoice, I doubt I would have been so quick to misinterpret it. It’s a classic example of what happens when our faith is insufficient.

The Rewards of Faith

Some of the Bible’s most valuable insight into the nature of faith is shown in examples of those who demonstrated it. I find it especially helpful to look at situations where Jesus directly complimented someone’s faith. Such instances are much less common in the Gospels than we tend to imagine, though. While Jesus spoke often about faith, he commended the faith of individuals on only eight occasions:

Blind Bartimaeus. As Jesus is leaving Jericho, a blind beggar sitting by the roadside repeatedly cries to him for mercy, even though numerous people admonish him to be quiet. Jesus invites the man to come to him and asks his request. When he replies, “Rabbi, I want to see,” Jesus responds, “Go, your faith has healed you” (Mk 10:46-52; Lk 8:35-43).

A woman with a hemorrhage. A woman who has suffered a blood flow for twelve years decides to approach Jesus for help. She pushes through a massive crowd and, when she reaches Jesus, merely touches the edge of his robe. Her hemorrhaging instantly stops. Recognizing that someone has drawn on his healing power, Jesus looks around the crowd, asking who has touched him. When the woman, now terrified, admits her deed, he declares, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mk 5:25-34; Mt 9:20-22; Lk 8:43-48).

Four men with a paralyzed friend. Four men, eager to bring their disabled friend to Jesus for healing, are unable to forge through a dense, unyielding crowd to reach Jesus in the home where he is teaching. In a burst of ingenuity, they pull tiles off the roof above the room where he is sitting and lower the man in front of him. The Gospel writers note that “when Jesus saw their faith,” he immediately turned his attention to this man, forgiving his sins and healing him (Mk 2:1-12; Mt 9:1-8; Lk 5:17-26).

A tenacious woman. A Canaanite woman persists in begging Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter, in spite of the fact that he initially seems reluctant to get involved. Finally he agrees to help her, exclaiming, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted” (Mt 15:21-28).

A disdained woman. A prostitute enters a Pharisee’s home where Jesus is dining and stands behind Jesus weeping. Finally she kneels and, drenching his feet with her tears, kisses them, perfumes them and wipes them with her hair. After admonishing his host for despising this woman, Jesus turns to her and says, “Your sins are forgiven. . . . Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Lk 7:36-50).

The one leper who thanks Jesus. Ten lepers approach Jesus asking for healing. He tells them to go and present them-selves to the priest. As they are walking away, their leprosy disappears. One man--the only Samaritan among this group of Jews--rushes back to Jesus and falls at his feet, thanking him and praising God profusely. Jesus, astonished that none of the others has displayed such gratitude, says to the man, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well” (Lk 17:11-19).

A centurion who requests healing for his servant. A Roman military official sends a group of Jewish officials to ask Jesus to come to his home and heal his critically ill servant. Jesus agrees to go but while traveling there is met by a delegation of the centurion’s friends who revise the request. The centurion doesn’t want to burden Jesus with the journey, they say, and feels unworthy for him to enter his home. He asks that Jesus simply perform the miracle from this distance. Just as soldiers obey his own orders without hesitation, the centurion reasons, his servant’s spirit will respond to Jesus’ command for healing even without Jesus’ being physically present. The centurion’s thoughtfulness and creative reasoning amaze Jesus and evoke the most effusive comment he makes about anyone’s faith: “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel” (Lk 7:2-10).

Two blind men who ask for healing. Two blind men follow Jesus as he travels along and implore him to heal them. Finally he queries them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” When they reply, “Yes,” he responds, “According to your faith will it be done to you.” At that moment their sight is restored (Mt 9:27-29).

The Five Characteristics of Faith

These are the sum total of incidents in the Gospels where Jesus explicitly compliments someone’s faith. Perhaps most surprising is that in none of them did the person’s faith have anything to do with doctrinal knowledge. Most of these people had only an elementary grasp of who Jesus was, and none had anything close to a highly developed Christian theology. The faith which impressed Jesus in every case, rather, was an attitude of heart. Most obviously it amounted to an uncanny optimism about receiving help from him.

When we look more closely at the attitude of faith that these people displayed, we find it involved at least five outlooks:

1. The belief that God was a friend who desired the very best for them. It is more instinctive to think of God as our adversary than our friend, especially during times of personal disappointment or loss. Faith is an attitude which holds fast to the conviction that God is an unequivocal friend who wills good, not evil, for us.

2. The belief that they would benefit by seeking help from Christ and submitting to him. We often hear it said that Christians should serve Christ without any hope for reward. The Scriptures, however, know nothing of such rigid legalism. Rather, they speak extensively of the benefits that derive from a relationship with Christ and urge us to earnestly seek and desire these advantages (Heb 11:6). Faith desires the greatest benefits God offers and believes these will result from faithfully following Christ. It is “the will to live” in the highest sense. Perhaps better stated, it is the will to live abundantly.

3. The determination to do whatever was necessary to get help from Jesus. The faith these people demonstrated was strongly active, not merely passive--as many Christians assume faith should normally be. In at least six of these cases individuals had to overcome significant obstacles, social pressure or stigma to approach Jesus. Their examples show that faith often involves taking significant personal initiative.

4. Considerable confidence that Jesus would meet their specific need. They were also highly optimistic about accomplishing their purpose. Their confidence did stop short of cocksureness; I doubt most of them were blatantly certain of success. Yet they were all strongly confident that Jesus was able to solve their particular problem and exceedingly hopeful he would do so. Their attitude is perhaps best described as substantial optimism that their needs would be met.

5. Humility and thankfulness. The Samaritan leper, blind Bartimaeus and the prostitute who entered the Pharisee’s home all demonstrated profound gratitude to God. Several of the individuals also displayed striking humility when encountering Jesus (the centurion, the woman with the hemorrhage, the Canaanite woman and the prostitute). We can guess that each person in these passages exhibited humble recognition of needing God’s help and significant potential for gratitude, and that these qualities were a vital part of the faith that impressed Jesus.

These five outlooks go a long way toward describing the attitude of faith as Scripture understands it. They are good benchmarks for measuring how well our own attitude compares with genuine faith. This is not to imply that developing our knowledge of doctrine is unimportant or unrelated to experiencing faith. Christians who are growing in faith will be motivated to grow in their grasp of “the faith” as well. Still, the attitude of faith is something much more basic and may be experienced by even a new Christian or one with minimal doctrinal insight. It is best described as an optimistic expectation about receiving help from God.

The Challenge of Faith

You and I will do well to adopt these viewpoints and hold fast to them, as we face challenges in the present and as we plan for our future. Great benefit comes from spending some uncluttered time each day in personal reflection, where we carefully consider where our own faith is inadequate and remind ourselves of the basis we have for staying hopeful. Let me encourage you to invest such time.

And during the course of the day, when you find yourself slipping into a pessimistic frame of mind, make a practice of stopping yourself and noting where you are falling short of an optimistic outlook. Remind yourself of the benefits that come from an attitude of faith: you see both your present situation and your future possibilities more clearly. And ask God to renew this attitude within you.

I urge you to make every effort to see your life through the eyes of faith.

It’s to your credit.
  

  *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    * 

This article is adapted from Blaine Smith's Faith and Optimism: Positive Expectation in the Christian Life (formerly The Optimism Factor: Outrageous Faith Against the Odds).

Nehemiah Notes is available twice-monthly by e-mail.

Do you have comments about Nehemiah Notes, or would you like to receive it monthly by ground mail? E-mail Blaine Smith.