Why I Don’t Live a Life of Great Faith

As my economics professor spoke to our class, she taught us a very simple principle: opportunity cost. 

That is, for every opportunity that an individual takes, there is something for which they’re missing out. If a man purchased a sports car, the cost may be that he lost the opportunity to put a downpayment on a house for his wife. Sorry, but that white Corvette with accents of black looked so good.

It’s the same with time. If a student chooses to watch a college football game on a Saturday afternoon, the cost is that he (ok, it was me) loses the opportunity to prepare for a test on Monday. This raised an important question recently.

What is the opportunity cost of not following God and living a life of great faith?

Bailey and I have been reading a section of the Bible almost every day for the past year and a half. The other day, we read through Hebrews 11 which was a bit of a coincidence because the book I was reading at the time was Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby.

I’ve told many people that this has been the deepest book I’ve ever read (aside from the Bible). It discusses quite a bit about faith and how our faith grows as we experience God firsthand.

Check out Hebrews 11:32-34,

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

It documents the acts of many men and women of faith. These people accomplished absolutely unbelievable things because of the work God did in their lives.

It made me realize that I don’t think I am living a life of great faith. 

I have a good wife with a good job and a good apartment. I don’t have issues at work. I don’t have many stresses personally. We don’t have financial difficulties. But almost nothing in my life requires great faith.

I know for a fact that I’ve become comfortable. That’s what scares me because in Sunday morning Bible study this week, we talked about the danger of comfort and where that can lead us in our personal and spiritual lives.

I think of myself as being an introvert. So staying comfortable in what I know is important to me. But regret takes so many people at the end of life and the last thing I want is to see the opportunity cost of my decisions to not live a life of great faith.

One thing that God spoke to me as I was reading Experiencing God was this: potentially the reason I do not feel like I live a life of great faith is because I am missing opportunities He gives and missing His voice on a regular basis. 

I am trying to combat this by God’s grace and with His strength. One way I am doing this is by getting up early with Bailey to read our Bible in the morning (when we’re more alert) and invest a bit of time in prayer. My prayer is that we open our hearts to God’s work and that He brings opportunities that require of us great faith. And if this is a training period for something bigger, so be it.

How do you listen to God? What are you doing right now that requires a great amount of faith? Just comment below and I will engage with you!