The Origin of faith

There is a quote that reads - "A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey…But a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong."


I chewed on that for a second, not because it was difficult to understand but I was actually trying not to understand it (if that makes any sense). What word is the most significant in bringing the point home? I guess we can even ask why is there a journey in the first place?


From a literal perspective one can assume that the major difference between the two can be explained by the position of the word woman in the sentence compared to "her" surroundings. The first "woman" is fronted by the adjective strong making the word stand out even more. Why wouldn't someone want to be strong? Further examination of this sentence leads us to see that this "Strong woman" needs help to continuously define herself. This is evident in the use of the word (has) - a possessive auxiliary verb that in this case is helping out the Be verb (is). A conveniently questionable position for a word that presented the illusion of strength and covered it up further with the facade of prior possession (has) but when it comes to what is, the word (woman) is only strong to a certain degree and that certain degree could very well be inaccurate, especially when facing the unexpected. Meaning - the woman may in fact be too weak for the journey.



However, the second woman is simply defined as a woman. No glaring adjectives b/c after the word woman is a preposition (of). Prepositions show relationships and in this case there is a relationship between woman and strength. While we are looking at their relationship (woman and strength) we find the same has faith but now we are wondering where this faith is coming from because this woman by her own regard isn't strong but she possesses, and has had it for some time, this faith. This faith is not in herself but in it is. The focus is not on the journey so much because that is part of a prepositional phrase. So the focus is on the pronoun (it) which refers back to faith.

So is faith the most important word in the sentence? We know that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. or in other words - It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen because we have evidence beyond the natural realm.- Hebr 11:1
But also consider this thought in Hebr 12:2 - Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
This reminds me that my faith began the moment my relationship with Jesus started. True faith is based on that relationship. Any other usage of the word is actually inaccurate. Faith is more than just deep belief and hope in oneself, but our hope and expectation is in Jesus Christ.

Now if we were to examine that same linguistic analysis spiritually, the sentence might read something like this: A woman relying on her personal strength possesses a certain amount of belief in her own strength that she can overcome the task at hand but a woman receives strength when she believes her faith will equip her for this task and prepare her for ones to follow. One step further even we can say - because we know the word woman is simply a word, we can substitute any person in that slot -

-Anyone who is prideful enough to believe that he/she is strong may believe that his/her strength is sufficient to a certain degree. However, when someone receives his/her strength from their relationship with Jesus, He, being Jesus, equips them beyond comparison for the current task and enhances their faith for tasks to follow. -

Wow, what a revelation!

When I can just take the focus off me and pursue my relationship with Christ there is no limit to what can be accomplished. As living beings created by God, we are in perpetual motion, hence the need for a term like journey. Along this path, it is always good to know that someone has already walked along the path and is doing His best to encourage me to let Him carry me on His shoulders the rest of the way. Christ is the origin of our faith for He truly is all that I've hoped for and His work goes beyond the natural realm of understanding. Ephesians 3:20

So what word brings the point home? "You" of course -