Faith
It opens a door through which grace can enter
When a sick person begged Jesus to heal him, why did Jesus ask, ‘Do you believe?’ Because if you have faith, it means that you have opened a door through which spiritual forces can enter. Anything you do that involves only your own ability and your own will obeys a purely natural mechanism and is therefore subject to the law of cause and effect.* Whereas as soon as the element of faith comes into it, a door is opened through which other forces, heavenly forces, can enter you and act within you to restore, purify and heal you – sometimes even when you do not quite deserve to be healed! You could say that faith constrains grace: it opens a door through which grace is obliged to enter. But only on condition, of course, that like the sick man in the Gospel, you beg it to come to you. By calling out to Jesus, the sick man caught his attention, and by his faith, he made it possible for Jesus’ power to manifest itself in him.
* Related reading:
