On the will of God, have you read the book, Guidance and the Voice of God? If not, it’s published by Matthias Media of Australia, a very sound ministry, and it has an approach to the subject that is more clear and helpful than others I have encountered. You can get it from their American store at https://store.matthiasmedia.com/order/orders.asp
Just do a product search for the title! God bless, brother!

Seems as though there is a both a certain and uncertain part to faith. Of some things we are certain, and we should be. We are certain of a heavenly home. We are certain of the Bible’s reliability. And all sorts of things like that.

But then of other things, we are not certain. I think most of the things in this arena fall into a “God’s will” category – “I’m pretty sure God wants me to move to Alaska; but I’m not certain. Nevertheless, I move forward anyway.”

To take it a step further, I would say that God doesn’t want necessarily want certainty from us in many situations; He wants trust.

So I think, to bounce off what you are saying, the certainties enable us to progress through the uncertainties.

Glad you know Zach; he’s a quality human being.

I agree with your definition of faith, up to a point. In any case, I don’t want to “trash” your definition. Your faith is probably much greater than mine! Here is where I agree with you– true faith necessarily involves intellectual assent, and yet, it does feel, very much at times, like moving ahead in the dark (or near-dark). That has been my own experience in times of deep suffering.

From what I see in the Bible though, Christian faith is indeed a kind of certainty, but not necessarily the kind to which we are accustomed. The disciples physically walked and talked with Jesus, in His human form, here on earth. They saw Him perform miracles with their own eyes. They encountered Him after His resurrection. What greater certainty could they have than that? To illustrate, in 2 Peter 1:18, Peter states that “we ourselves heard this very voice (the voice of the Father, praising the Son) borne from heaven, for we were with Him (Jesus) on the holy mountain.” Surely, this is certainty– they heard the Father with their own ears and saw Jesus with their own eyes! If only we could have that kind of certainty today! (Believe me, in my times of suffering, I have longed for it.) However, in the next verse, after he mentions being with Jesus on the mountain. Peter says that there is a way to have even greater certainty than that which comes from physically seeing Jesus! “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word…” (2 Peter 1:19) The prophetic word of God is “more sure” than seeing Jesus Himself! Now, that is certainty! Again, it’s not necessarily the kind to which we are accustomed, but if it’s even more certain than the verification of our own eyes and ears, then it is truly the one certainty that is above all others. I pray that this would be your, and my, comfort when we suffer. Blessings to you, my brother in Christ!

While our life experiences are ours … unique and original … we are able to draw similarities from other faith stories, some of which have real authority (biblical ones) and others that God gives us in a moment, or in a biography, etc. These similarities illustrate the circular, organic nature of life. In some sense, somebody has “been there and done that,” though not completely like we have. But the repetitious, circular, organic nature of God’s revelation through history is a huge part of faith.

But that faith is not circular in the sense that it is not going anywhere. It is also progressive, as you clearly demonstrate with sound textual analysis and live with vigor in Joshua’s battle. To use an amusement park metaphor … the rollercoaster has loops, but it is taking you somewhere (and not where you started).

For myself, it’s been most helpful to have others around me who have “been there and done that” as I take steps forward (progressing!) in faith. OPR! We need the organic nature of faith that gives us the social support and historical contenxt for our struggles, and we need to know that we are walking in faith towards an end.

Entirely too nerdy to say “faith is OPR” …. and this is way too long … i’m pasting this into my own blog!

I really like your theory that faith isn’t about certainty, but rather being able to trust that God has the best in mind even if we don’t understand it and moving forward anyway. Though the situations I’ve gone through pale in comparison to what you’re going through with Joshua, I’ve found that to be the case in my walk as well.

Looking forward to your next post!

It’s about time. Seriously. So glad to see you cementing your thoughts forever in the annuls of the internet. I’ll give you some love on my blog soon.

Oh, and you look like a serious postmodern rock star in your picture… ready to grow a phat gotee and suck down a latte while listening to some Death Cab and contemplating the existential angst in the cosmos.

So glad to see you join the team. Beware, it can be addicting. Adding you to my Google Reader now.

z