When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the LORD had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the LORD and in his servant Moses. (Exodus 14:31, NLT)
Whenever I think that my golf game is in good shape, I make a tee time on the Stadium course here at PGA West to test my game. Whatever confidence I have as I step on the first tee is easily demolished in the next four hours as I play one of “Diabolical Dye’s” early masterpieces. All too often I walk off the eighteenth green in humility. Besides Pete Dye’s famous design characteristics—railroad ties, pot bunkers, and island greens—many of his courses incorporate features designed to mess with the golfer’s mind.
This design technique means that, standing on the tee, one is not quite sure where to aim because the landing area is not totally visible. As a result, it takes an incredible amount of blind faith to pick a spot, commit to it and then, not knowing exactly what’s ahead of you, hit the ball in that direction. But, too often, my mind isn’t comfortable with that technique and Mr. Dye has accomplished what he intended—he’s inside my head and I haven’t even teed off.
To combat this lack of trust and reliance on blind faith, I decided I needed more knowledge. Late one afternoon when the course was empty, I went to the eighteenth green and walked the course backwards towards each tee box and annotated my yardage book about the characteristics of the landing areas. The course certainly looked a whole lot different from that direction than it did from the tee box. Now when I stand on the tee, equipped with that new knowledge, I have more confidence—more faith—that there is a generous landing area ahead of me.
‘The kind of faith God is interested in is not wishing. It’s trust based on knowing, a sure confidence grounded in evidence.’ So too it is with our own faith. Biblical faith is attained only after an examination of evidence coupled with correct reasoning about the evidence. Greg Koukl, a noted apologist, puts it this way: “Biblical faith is based on knowledge, not wishing or blind leaps. Knowledge builds confidence and confidence leads to trust. The kind of faith God is interested in is not wishing. It’s trust based on knowing, a sure confidence grounded in evidence.”
We can find this evidence and knowledge in the Bible. In the Old Testament, when the Israelites saw God’s power over the Egyptians, they put their faith in him and Moses.
New Testament writers emphasized that faith in Jesus is based on evidence. John writes about numerous miraculous signs that Jesus did so that we can have knowledge that will buttress our faith (John 20:30-31). The resurrection claim was substantiated by many infallible proofs including verification through the observations of more than 500 persons at once (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). Paul tells us that “faith comes from hearing the message and the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
We don’t need, and in fact, we shouldn’t rely on “blind faith.” Instead, we should spend time daily in the Scriptures to find the knowledge which will serve as a sound basis for our faith and trust in God.
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Mark “Ole” Olson
May 25, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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