What Faith Looks Like

I recently heard an account of President Eyring (before he served in the First Presidency, and unpublished, so unverified) talking about faith to a group of teachers.

He thought for a long time and said, ‘I don’t really know what faith is, but I do know what faith looks like.’

‘Faith looks like those who give their all to God, without knowing what all is.’

And maybe that’s exactly what faith is. Because faith, to be faith, must believe in the unseen and strike out into the unknown.

As I think about his statement, isn’t that just like what all of us did premortally?

Trusted in a Father’s plan and felt certain that Jesus Christ could and would carry out that plan, so agreed to submit all to come here without Them.

But having (at least experientially) no idea what all would be.

We came by faith and brought faith with us.

A gift from the God who never fails, and therefore makes faith possible.

The only question is whether or not we will hold onto that faith, or let it go.

Do we still trust in His plan and in His means of fulfilling that plan?

Can we walk with Him in the peaceful assurance that whatever mortal experiences come our way, we know the Way home and we know the way Giver?

So even when the all that is asked is not what we expected.

Or the all seems beyond our capacity.

When the all feels unfair or boring or unrewarding or unpopular or just really hard.

Can we continue to trust, to seek, to try?

Because that is what faith looks like.

And faith is what we came here to do.