Faith Beyond Logic – October 22, 2000
Martin Luther said, “Logic is the greatest enemy faith has.” Logic is largely a function of the mind. Faith, however, is a function of mind, spirit, and heart. Faith combines experience and feeling as well as logic. As we seek to know more about heavenly things, we trust more intuitive feelings and spiritual experiences that don’t seem logical.
To truly exercise faith, we act on the things we feel. When we attempt to put our faith into action, it sometimes contradicts logic and reason. Logic tells us to take care of ourselves first, because no one else will. Faith tells us to put the needs of others first. We pray to a Being we cannot see. We trust in a will beyond our own. We seek for purity of heart in a world that doesn’t accept its possibility. When we trust more in faith in the divine than in what seems logical, we find our hearts become purer, our thoughts clearer. Deep inside, we know, even if we can’t explain, that there is a God and that He loves and watches over us.
A young university student was once confronted by a professor, who had a logical rebuttal for every aspect of her faith. But something deep in her heart wouldn’t allow her to let go of her faith, no matter how the professor tried to undermine it. One day, the professor challenged her in front of the entire class to explain how she could know there’s a god. A momentary despair filled the girl as she wondered how to answer such a learned man, but then a sudden thought washed away her despair. Confidently, she looked the professor in the eyes, and challenged him to tell her what a potato tastes like. The professor stammered and stalled until the student said, “By your own rules, that proves there is no such thing as a potato.”
If we rely only on logic to lead us to faith, we’ll fail. We need to listen to our hearts and our spirits, as well as our minds. As we do, we learn that faith isn’t a matter of getting what we want in life; faith is wanting what God wants.
Program #3714