My realization was faith is necessary for everyone’s journey in this life. Especially, in a desperate situation, when seems nothing is left to keep it going. It’s the hope for the better days ahead that is always there to hang on. The strong conviction that compels one to keep on moving forward. Life is real, though full of challenges are yet very much worth living. It is a journey across the ocean of realities pushing to and fro. Life traverse through the time spanning the past, the present, and the future. The past filled with lessons, the present as the window for action, and the future as the goal’s placeholder. Life with a destined goal is purposeful. Correspondingly, faith is the strength that propelled anyone towards its destiny in the midst of the prevailing realities. Without faith, life is powerless and without a destiny it’s pointless.
The paradox, faith doesn’t take merits from any evidence that the reality brings about. Faith is born purely from the inner conviction of the things hoping for, independent of the realities happening around. Otherwise, there can be no hope at all. For anyone who puts all his consciousness on reality at hand, there can be no element of hope to come in his mind.
Faith can be delineated into two different realms. There goes a saying “believe in yourself and believe in God”.
First, faith in the natural realm, wherein you have to believe what you can. In real-world things happen, events occur and changing conditions are keeping in steps on every life’s journey. Consequently, these will shake off one’s faith and make one rethink its ways to reach its destiny. Because ignoring the realities in life is a very dangerous position. Accordingly, in between faith and reality, there are the senses, the intuition, the conviction and other human faculties that enable anyone to make decisions best fit of the prevailing condition. Appropriating properly these inherent capabilities and the firm conviction will lead anyone on the right way to its destiny.
Narrative
I was born and grew up in a remote rural community. I’d live my life until mid-teens around a seemingly primitive culture. I had a very narrow perspective of life then. The purpose of living was so simple and the goal in life was too little. I was exposed to urban life during my early adolescence that enlightened my consciousness to a more developed culture society. I found a broader world of possibilities in life. That was then I had set a goal to earn a degree in College. Believing in myself, I pursued a life in the City with near nothing to lean on. I just had to keep healthy and believed that I can do what the others do.
I survived my early city life the hard way. I didn’t have a college education then, with no work experienced, so I had to take a hard labor job in a woodcraft shop under the scorning heat of the sun. My tender body had to endure loading and unloading, carrying, drying of heavy timbers and lumbers day-in and day-out. During the night, I had to clean the shop premises with all the garbage and spoils of the manufacturing operation. Working almost 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. It was my stepping stone after I got my bearing to urban life and gained more experience and exposure, I explored for a better job opportunity.
The opportunities come to those who believe that there exists somewhere. I took from time to time looking for a better job that could allow me to attend school. In a long while, my persistence yielded result, I was accepted in one of the Security Agencies and was assigned as Security Guard to one of the biggest hospitals in the City. It was much better because it afforded me a time to attend school from 4:00 to 10:00 PM, I was assigned at a graveyard shift. During off classes, I moonlight driving public utility jeepneys plying around the city to augment my income. From then on, I felt the improvement to my living condition, financially and socially.
Progress is just as high as ambition. Plotting the right course in an appropriate environment, plus hard work and skills are the imperatives to achieve the ambition in time. Time must bring progress, so in my senior year in college taking up Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, I shifted my sight to office jobs aligned with my college course. That was then I applied in Employment Agency that was catering to banks and corporate offices. Fortunately, I got employed in one of the biggest banks as a messenger.
In my childhood, it never got into my imagination working in the bank, it was a notable milestone of my career. But it didn’t stop there when I graduated from college, I got an opportunity to work in one of the top companies in the country. Although I felt the challenges got tougher, I also experienced a life that was getting better. I earned my college degree in Bachelor of Science in Accountancy and got a job that ushered me a stable life by faith and through grit. I also utilized my energy aptly across diverse reality and persevered in the midst of difficulty.
Second, is the faith in the supernatural realm, wherein you have to believe in the existence of a supernatural being that transcends across the physical and spiritual dimension. It is impossible not to believe because science proves that there’s nothing that naturally exists out of nothing. Everything that exists must have a beginning. And there is only one account of the beginning of everything. It was created by a supernatural being, the God that transcends beyond the natural realm.
The Creation
In the beginning, were the creations. Its systems and design are beyond human comprehension. How everything was placed in its order to complement each other is beyond the natural realm. The planetary system, the solar system, the complementary functions, the gravitational forces, and the exact proportions of energy in the universe are unfathomable to the human mind. Although there were discoveries, study breakthroughs still there is no scientific explanation of how did it begin and established its place in the whole universe. The Big Bang Theory does not point to the beginning of things. The research for the earth-like habitable planet does not yield any sort of achievement.
Unfortunately, the remarkable advancement of human knowledge that resulted in a scientific development which consequently altered the natural order and ecosystem of the earth is the major cause of the many catastrophic phenomena that we are experiencing these days. The changes in the amount of gas composition in the atmosphere called the greenhouse effect are attributed to industrialization. The human’s exploitation of nature has contributed heavily to climate change on earth that world leaders are now trying to mitigate. The natural calamities such as; earthquake, super-typhoon, tsunami, and many more are getting more frequent and disastrous. It is feared, that if this phenomenal condition will continue its trend, it will lead to a human’s extinction.
All of these are manifestations of the supernatural being, the Almighty God who established the beginning of all things, the universal order, system, and design. God revealed his supremacy through his creations, and human intervention just meshed it out of order. He also revealed Himself in history, in miracles, in visions given to prophets, and most importantly the living words-the Bible.
The Bible
The bible is the only book that has comprehensive coverage about the supernatural realm. It holds the highest regard as an authoritative and adequate source of knowledge about God, the Creator. It is recognized for its infallibility and dependability as the rule of faith in God. To the pious believers, the Bible is the only book that contains God-inspired words. “John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. To the men who lost everything and all hopes that this physical world can offer will instinctively resort to his sub-conscious outburst with a deep sigh “Oh my God” seemingly reaching out to eternity. For it is written in the bible; “Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from the beginning to end”. Faith has no limit, and eternity has no boundary. “Hebrew 9:27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment”. This leaves no doubt of human existence beyond this physical world, unto eternity.
Life after death
Human has primacy among God’s creation. God molded man with his hand and gave life out of his breath. “Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being”. Meanwhile, the rest of the creations were just by the mere utterance of words as described in the Bible in Genesis 1.
A man on its perfection and completeness has three main components; the soul, the spirit, and the body. “1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The body returns to the ground. “Genesis 3:19b until you return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return”. Whereas, the life that inhabits the soul and spirit which is inherently eternal returns to eternity. Human’s life is from an eternal God.
Intersecting eternal life
In the aftermath of this imperfect world is intersecting eternal life. The place for those who are judged righteous by God will be with Him in heaven, otherwise, hell is real for the unbelievers. Matthew 23:33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” Snakes are the characterization of treachery and unfaithfulness while the vipers represent a venom that spoils the righteousness that God establishes upon men. Snake is the main author of the fall and for those who remain enslaved to the fallen world is surely condemned to hell. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.
Notwithstanding, the Almighty God redeemed the world through his only Son Jesus Christ. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. The key to heaven is the faith of the saving grace by the blood Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:18-19 “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect”. In effect, we are made righteous through Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”. Our eternal life in heaven will be secured through faith in Jesus Christ’s saving grace. Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
Man believe it and you shall be saved, keep the faith because the world is drifting too far from the divine order, stand firm by it for there will be testing of your faith through troubles and tribulations. John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Mapping journeys, building bridges. 