Humor me for a second: let’s make a bet. I bet you a nickel that Kennedy beats Nixon in the 1960 election.

Silly thing to say, right? For Christians, a similar idea is part of our experience of faith, and part of what we sometimes struggle explain to others.

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Romans 8:24-25

We don’t need faith to help us with the things we understand already. Religion is not an exercise in simple education about the known reality of our world. Worship is not concerned with what we can take for granted.

When we seek help from God, we are not simply picking an alternate view of the world. We come to Him to help understand those things which we can’t ever possibly know. He gives us hope in those things which we can’t yet see.

Ethan Kirl

Originally Published April 27, 2023