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When God created man, He had at least two paths He could have taken. Either man is created free, with the ability to choose freely between obedience to God or disobedience; or man is created without the possibility of disobedience, but without the freedom to choose. This earth appears to be locked in a cosmic battle over the consequences of this issue. Because man (and presumably other beings in the universe) were made free, and because they exercised this freedom in destructive ways over the past millennia, we are now the victims of the choices we were bequeathed by our ancestors. Because God loved the beings He had created on this planet, even though they had chosen to disobey, he implemented his plan for their rescue, which involved sending His own Son to live on this earth a life without wrong choices, and then to provide to those of us who choose to accept it, the gift of Jesus' perfect life in place of our own, while Jesus received the consequences of our disobedience (and particularly of our ancestor Adam, who first chose to sin), and paid the price for us. This demonstration of God's love is designed to inspire love for God in us, and to encourage us to desire to obey Him and to share His love with others. This brings me to your question:

"If faith is so needed in every day life , why faith in GOD so difficult for so many of us."

You are right. Faith does not come easily, and to some it is more of a challenge than it is to others. I think it is important to recognize that we exercise faith all of the time; perhaps examples are not necessary, but a little thought will bring examples to mind of circumstances where we do exercise faith in "things" or "people". Why do we choose to do so? Generally it is because we have tried them out, perhaps in smaller ways, with little risk, in the past and found them to be reliable. That is to say, we have applied the empirical methodology of science. As we generate this feeling of confidence, the scope of our trust is enlarged. Of course, the greater the amount of faith we invest in something or someone, the greater our disappointment when they fail us, as inevitably they will. We will go out one morning, in a hurry to get to the airport, and our car will not start. We are mad and upset by the inconvenience, but often more so by the sense of betrayal. Experience had taught us that our car always started in the morning. We had faith to believe that it would start this morning. If we had not believed that, we could not have slept last night, worrying about getting to the airport on time. That faith was very strong, being based on many experiences or "encounters" with our car (if this example is not relevant, you can substitute your own).

This brings us to the central issue of your concern: faith in God. From the above paragraph, you can see that faith is not something foreign in our experience; in fact we exercise it all the time. But most of the experiences we have are with "things" that we can touch or taste or see. What about God, that "no man has seen at any time" (John 1:18)? There is plenty in the world to remind us of the benevolence and love of God. Although some have tried to minimize these evidences, or to explain them in naturalistic terms, their power persists. Paul says in Romans 1:20 "...since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." Men may try to explain away these evidences, but they will never succeed. The complexity of life defies naturalistic attempts to explain it (see, for example, "The Trilobite: Enigma of Complexity").

I believe God also encourages us to try Him out. David says in Psalm 34:8: "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy is the man who trusts in Him." This is an invitation to try God out. I believe faith is something that is given to us by God. Children seem to be born with a tremendous capacity for faith. A little child learns to trust his or her father by trying him out. They do not hesitate to trust those who have brought them into this world. This faith is only taken from them by the betrayal and failures of others. It seems to be much more difficult for an adult to exercise faith. But that is indeed where I believe the solution to your dilemma lies. If God is real, then His promises are also. Take hold of His promises; ask Him on your knees to guide you into faith. He will not fail, because His reputation is on the line. This does not mean that He will always do things the way you may wish them done; He is too wise for that. But if you commit yourself to Him, He will let you know that He exists in ways that will be unmistakable to you. I hope this helps.

______________________________________________________ Ó 2010 Arthur V. Chadwick, Ph.D.