Recently, I received a new insurance card in the mail. Affixed to this small plastic card were the words: “Call this number to activate.”

It was a simple procedure. In less than 60 seconds I switched on my card. Now, those insurance benefits are mine to use. But, if I’d not taken the action required; making the phone call, then those insurance advantages meant for me, would be void, null and unusable. First, an action was required. Now, I can claim, act on and use what is mine. 

Faith

Activating my new insurance card does not guarantee that I will remain healthy, disease and accident free. But, by faith, I activated my card and now I can believe that I have affordable health care as I need it. 

Life requires that we act on faith everyday. For example, getting into our cars, and putting the key into the ignition, we believe our car will start. Driving down the highway, we depend on other drivers to stay in their lane, stop at red lights and go on green lights. Getting onto an airplane, we trust the pilot to keep the plane on course and in the air. We also rely on the ground crew to load our luggage and unload it when we reach our destination. 

But, there are no guarantees. Instead, sometimes our cars don’t start. Not all drivers are attentive, forgetting to stop on red and go on green. Periodically, cars do leave their designated lane and an accident happens. Then we have to also consider that pilots and ground crew are not infallible. Mishaps happen and at times, planes crash. Other times we land safely, but our luggage is lost.  

But what if we could count on, rely on and trust someone who is 100% of the time trustworthy, reliable and infallible. Would we believe that person? I did.

First, though, an action was required. I had to believe in a most unexpected yet real experience; an encounter with God. 

I had a history with God. As a kid, my parents had introduced me to the idea of God; someone who’d created the world and had more power and authority than any man. But, when I encountered God later, as a young adult, it was not just the idea of God. Instead I experienced the very presence of God incarnate; Jesus. 

In a moment of despair and hopelessness, Jesus showed up. At the very moment when I could think of no other solution than to end my life, Jesus offered life to me, one that was vastly different from the one I lived. 

Like the insurance card that came in the mail, I could have walked away from that divine encounter with Jesus without taking any action. But instead, I responded to what I’d seen and heard. As a result, I activated my faith in God. It was that simple. 

Why bother activating our faith? Setting our faith in motion is like switching on an insurance card. We are not guaranteed a trouble free life. But, whether we experience a trouble free day or a trouble filled day, we are assured of at least two promises; God is always present and God never disappoints.