Belief

Prayer and Fasting Day 1.                                                                                                                                                                                                       


Belief.


That's what really hit me after going through this day's devotional. The main topic for this day was about the Gospel, and I think nothing could be more fit than that to jump start this seven day Prayer and Fasting.


I remember a line from the movie, Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Reepicheep said this one: "We have nothing if not belief." I completely agree with him, and I do because belief is something that is evident in my life, and I would consider it to be the bane of my existence.


Belief is something that every person has, whether they know it or not. Belief in themselves, other people, one's abilities, tradition or superstition, science, facts and hard evidences, luck or chance, spiritual forces, religion. You name it, everyone has it. One would not exist (at least in their own perception) if they don't believe they exist.


Belief comes in many ways and forms. It can come through a sudden realization that one single concept could actually be true to your life. Or it can be something that is built gradually, up until to the point that it convinces you. It can also be something that is empirical, making sure that each and every one of your senses experience it first hand. It can be something that other people have passed on to you, sort of like the property of transitivity in mathematics. In any way, shape or form, belief makes its way into our lives. The only question there is that whether we would accept it or not.


I have come across belief many times, and in as many different ways. Some of it have stayed, some of it had gone. But among those who stayed, only one thing felt very real and true to me. One thing that is so important, yet oftentimes taken for granted. One thing that many people spend their whole lives just to find, yet people who has it treats it nothing more than a set of rules to follow. This thing that is so elusive to many, yet seems too commonplace for the few. This thing that I am talking about is none other than the Gospel.


By definition, the Gospel means good news. And if it is the good news, many people should be glad about it, right? Unfortunately, no. And to me, it really seems so ironic to think that people always want to hear about good news, yet refuse to believe the Gospel, the good news itself. This did not come easy on me too, when I first heard it. Believing is hard when it's something that is unproven to yourself. However, when you believe in something that is greater than yourself, anything is possible. Including me believing what I previously thought was unbelievable.


Quoting a passage from my Prayer and Fasting devotional, "Good news is often really good only to the degree that we realize that the bad news is really bad." The bad news is that, we are all sinners, and all have our own transgressions against God. And for it we deserve nothing but death. However, the good news is God has been the one to pay the price that we should pay. God came to earth to die for all our sins, and then resurrected and returned to His glorious place in heaven. For me, that good news was even magnified because of the realization that I had back then. I was unworthy, I was undeserving, I am nothing, yet Someone came and died for me? Now that's what you call good. And to me, it became more than just good. It began from a realization, then eventually started to manifest itself into my life little by little. It started to show itself not only through my own perception, but also through others'. I experienced the transformation it had caused not only through my five senses, but also through my intangibles. After a long search of where to put my belief on, along came the Gospel.


We all have our own stories about our personal beliefs. And it need not be about what I've just written. Believing in something is what makes us alive, and also makes us human. It is essential for us to grow and to elevate to a higher degree of maturity. In a world full of lies and pretensions, belief will be your compass that will lead you to your destination. And of course, that belief is, and should always be, based on something greater than ourselves.


Going back to what Reepicheep said, "We have nothing if not belief." And that's what I will have as I start the 7 day Prayer and Fasting.