Belief vs Faith

There is a specific miracle that is recorded in John chapter 9 that is found nowhere else in the other Gospels. It's a case where a man who was born blind is miraculously healed. Jesus"spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 'Go,' he told him, 'wash in the Pool of Siloam' (this word means 'Sent'). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing." (John 9:6-7)

It makes you wonder --  why didn't Jesus just heal him right there on the spot? He healed many people immediately, and no doubt He could do it. Why, this time, did He go through all the steps of making mud, placing it on the man's eyes, and telling him to go and wash the mud off? 

A possible reason is that Jesus did this to see if the man actually believed Jesus could heal him. Perhaps Jesus was checking the man's belief -- his faith. The words, "belief" and "faith" are very similar, and sometimes used interchangeably in the Bible, depending on the context. But there can be differences. One way to look at it is that belief, at least in the worldly sense, involves the intellect -- a conviction. But sincere spiritual belief manifests itself into a confident trust that leads to action and obedience -- faith. 

The difference between belief and faith can be illustrated by the experience I once had driving in the city of Annapolis, Maryland. It seems that every time I drive in that city I get lost. So I made sure I had my GPS on. It took me into the city to my destination flawlessly. When I got ready to leave the parking lot, I pulled out and went to the stop sign where it told me to turn right. But I was sure I came in the opposite way! For a moment I hesitated. Should I turn left, which was my gut feeling, or blindly follow the GPS? I sat there for a few seconds and then made my decision -- I turned right. I wasn't sure where I was going, but sure enough, it led me right out of the city and on my way home. 

I always had belief in GPS technology -- I believed that it was accurate and had the ability to give the correct directions. But it was only when I actually turned right and began driving into the unknown, totally trusting that it would correctly lead me, that my faith in GPS was demonstrated. 

The same is true with the blind man. He may have believed, in a worldly sense, that Jesus had the ability to heal people, but his confident faith was shown when he got up, walked off, found the pool of Siloam (remember he was still blind), and washed the mud off his eyes. 

In this instance of healing the blind man, Jesus was looking for faith. As a matter of fact, Jesus is always looking for faith. He is looking for our faith too. Let's always walk through this life with a confident, trusting faith in the Lord.