You Must Have Faith
By Chris Crouch.
Chris is an author and President of Simple Works Consulting, LLC. He offers seminars and consulting that focus on improving employee productivity and career satisfaction. He recently published "The Contented Achiever".

After bombarding the pastor with questions for over thirty minutes, I was more confused than ever. "Give me some hard evidence that what you are saying is true." He finally turned to me and said, "Son, I can't explain exactly why you should embrace this particular belief, I can only tell you that you must have faith…it is true."

Bingo! I got him! He was on shaky ground. I knew it, because every time a preacher or Sunday school teacher got stuck, they pulled out the old catchall explanation for religious and spiritual issues…"You must have faith." At that point, I was supposed to stop asking questions and believe it. Ask too many questions about "sacred truths," and I was likely a "non-believer." And non-believers were headed for hell, so I'd better stop asking questions.

Now that I'm older, and I've had a lot of time to think about this issue of having faith, I've come to an interesting conclusion about one of the key issues in a person's quest to grow spiritually. I believe that in order to grow and mature spiritually, it is true…you must have faith.

It was the farmers of the world who convinced me there was something to this "having faith issue." After all, who is more practical, down to earth and no-nonsense than farmers? Farmers can't produce anything by themselves. Technically, a farmer does not grow a single thing…not one bean or one ear of corn. However, farmers are masters at cooperating with nature to produce crops. They work hard; spend a lot of money, and at the end of the planting cycle what do farmers have to show for their efforts? Nothing that you can see! They stand at the edge of their field after the planting is done and can only see plowed dirt.

Farmers are people of great faith. They know unseen things are going on below the surface. And, they know if they nurture the seeds that have been planted, crops will grow and they will eventually see the tangible results of their efforts. The farmer's belief in what happens between the time the seeds are buried until the crops emerge from the ground is based on his or her knowledge of farming and faith in the unseen. Farmers must have faith to do what they do.

Those of us in the city use the same concept every time we pay our light bill. We can't see electricity and it's hard to even describe it to someone, but we see the results…we flip the switch, the lights go on! That's how spirituality works. You plant seeds and nurture them and the crops grow. You "pay the bill" (by studying and personally reflecting on spiritual matters) and the lights go on in your life. Faith allows you to go places where proof and the five senses can never take you.

The people who used to tell me "you must have faith" may not have been on shaky ground. I now know that when someone tells you "you must have faith" it's a signal that it's time for you to do your own homework. They can't take you any further. No crops will grow if the farmer doesn't do his or her part, and you're the farmer of your life.

Like the farmer, you must have personal knowledge of how things grow. Farmers grow crops…you help to grow your soul. If you study hard enough, read enough, ask enough questions, have enough experiences and reflect enough…your ability to rely on faith will blossom. This effort is truly an inside job on your part. In the end, no one else can develop your beliefs for you. And sometimes you just have to believe things before you can see them. Let go of the need for proof when it comes to spiritual matters…all it takes is a little faith.

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