Jul
26
Absolutely Sure
Filed Under Devotional
A project manager, a mechanical engineer, and a software developer were in a car driving down a steep hill. Suddenly, a tire blew out the car went swerving down the hill, bouncing off the guard rails until it came to a stop at the bottom. The project manager wanted everyone in the car to help draw up a plan of how to fix the car so they could get on with the trip. The hardware engineer went right to the car jack and wanted to change the tire. The software developer said, “Wait, wait, wait. First, we should push it to the top of the hill and see if it happens again.”
It is the nature of my profession to be skeptical of problem reports with software until we’ve seen clear evidence…repeatedly. The very process of quality assurance in software companies is the task of finding a problem and then finding the easiest way to repeat the problem reliably. Most developers won’t bother chasing a bug that’s only been seen once or twice. I can’t fix what I can’t analyze. I have faith in my code and I’m skeptical of bug reports, until I see proof. This does not seem to be a mindset conducive to a follower of Christ, but here I am.
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
Faith is not merely being optimistic. Faith is not buying a lottery ticket and crossing your fingers. Faith is not blind hope. Faith is being sure. Faith is absolute confidence. Are you absolutely convinced of what you hope for? Are you completely bought in to what you cannot see? That’s real faith.
That’s not how I work professionally, but it is absolutely what I believe. More certainly than knowing the sun will rise, I know I will go to Heaven. With more conviction than knowing rain will fall in Portland, I know Jesus is alive and that He is my savior.
I can’t provide you the same evidence I would expect from my QA department. But, with faith, that’s sort of the point. If I could provide the evidence, it wouldn’t be faith.