Faith in antagonism to common sense is fanaticism; common sense in antagonism to faith is rationalism. The life of faith brings the two into a right relationship. Common sense isn’t faith, and faith isn’t common sense. They stand in the relation of the natural to the spiritual, of impulse to inspiration. Nothing Jesus Christ ever said is common sense. His words are revelation sense; they reach the shore where common sense fails.

“In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Faith must be tested before it becomes real. If we love God and are called according to his purpose, we can rest assured that no matter what happens, the alchemy of his providence will transform the object of our faith—Jesus Christ—into an active, vital force in each of our lives. The whole purpose of God is to make faith real in the lives of his children. He does this for each one of us personally, working through our individual circumstances.

To turn head-faith into a personal possession is a fight always, not sometimes. God brings us into certain circumstances in order to test and educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make its object real. Until we know Jesus, God is a mere abstraction; we cannot have faith in him. But when we hear Jesus say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), we have something that is no longer abstract but real and limitless.

Faith is a tremendously active principle; it always puts Jesus Christ first. In any challenge, faith says, “This may seem foolish, Lord, but I’m going to venture forth on your word.” Faith knows that for every commonsense situation, there’s a revelation fact that can be drawn upon to prove in practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is the whole person rightly related to God by the power of Jesus Christ.