What is the opposite of faith?
I’ve asked a lot of people that question, and almost always they say, “Faithlessness.” They say that word or some variation, some equivalent term, every time.
But I disagree.
The opposite of faith is thanksgiving.
Perhaps the recent holiday season has had me pondering this.
Thanksgiving Day. Christmas. These are holidays in which we celebrate the blessings of the past and experience great joy recalling what the Lord has done for us. Even New Year’s Day is a time of reflection; we give only a cursory nod to what lies before us while recalling in detail the passing events of yet another year gone by.
You see, thanksgiving is the instinctive spiritual response to God’s past blessings. Looking back, we give him joyful praise for the great things he has done for us.
Faith is similar, but opposite. Instead of looking back, faith is the instinctive spiritual anticipation of future blessings. Looking ahead, we give joyful praise for the great things God will do for us. Faith and thanksgiving are twins, facing opposite directions.
Our praise needs to go both ways. King David taught us to do both. His psalms are filled with praise to God for past and future blessings.
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Faith in the future: “He will deliver you from the hunter’s net. … He will cover you with his feathers. … You will take refuge under his wings. … You will not fear the terror of the night …” (Psalm 91).
Thanks for past blessings: “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies …” (Psalm 18).
Faith is forward-looking. Thanksgiving is looking back. Both are worthy of praise to our loving Father in heaven. He is busy organizing events in our lives that bless us.
Oddly, I’ve discovered that many Christians—especially Baptists, for some reason—find it easy to give God glory for the things he has done. They seem to find it much more difficult to voice praise with any confidence at all for future blessings. Why is that, I wonder? We are instructed to be men and women of faith—not thanks. As important as thanking our Lord for blessings past is, faith in his future is far more critical.
“Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” That is what the writer of Hebrews said. Are you as confident in God’s oversight of your future as you are aware of his blessings in times past?
That is what it means to be a man or woman of faith.
Rich Mussler attends First Baptist Church in Lewisville and is a writer living by faith.
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