Radical, Risk-Taking Faith

Faith is the belief that God is real and that God is good. Faith is not a mystical experience or a midnight vision or a voice in the forest... it is a choice to believe that the One who made it all hasn't left it all and that He still sends light into shadows and responds to gestures of faith.
Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. Faith is the belief that God will do what is right. God is always near and always available. Just waiting for your touch. So let Him know. Demonstrate your devotion: Write a letter. Ask forgiveness. Confess. Be baptized. Feed a hungry person. Pray. Teach. Go.
Do something that reveals your faith. For faith with no effort is no faith at all. God will respond. He has never rejected a genuine gesture of faith. Never.
God honors radical, risk-taking faith. When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble. When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed. And when a garment is touched - whether by the hand of an anemic woman in Galilee or by the prayers of a beggar in Bangladesh - Jesus stops. So make your choice, announce your faith to God, and demonstrate your devotion.

- Max Lucado in "The Gift for All People"