Moses was working for his father-in-law, tending sheep on Mount Horeb. One day

“the Angel of the Lord appeared to him out of the midst of a bush;

and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed…” Gen.3:2

“Holy Smoke!” said Moses, taking off his shoes in honor of that holy place. After that, Moses was never the same again.

Most of us envy Moses and the many others in the Bible who had “holy smoke” types of experiences. Often I’ve heard people say that they’re so dissatisfied with the present state of their faith. “If only we could see a burning bush not burned up. Then we coud have stronger faith.”

But such thoughts are not what they seem at first. Far from expressing a desire for stronger faith, they are really a wish for the end of faith. Because faith is, according to Hebrews 11:1, “The assurance of things not seen.” Faith is believing even when all the evidence tells us belief is a waste of time. It is exactly the trusting in the unseen, unheard, and unexplainable, for which there is no proof. When we wish for some evidence, some holy smoke, then we’re seeking to go around faith to something more sure. We are saying that faith isn’t enough.

Yet faith is the method chosen by God to bring us into his kingdom. Faith is God’s saving gift to us through the Holy Spirit. This trust in the unseen is what we’re supposed to be cultivating and nurturing among ourselves.

Mystical experiences do happen. You can read about them any time you want. Why do they happen? Only God knows. They happen only to a few, though, and rarely. Most of us will never witness “holy smoke”. We will be numbered among those who have not seen and yet believe. The majority of us will be left with faith.

It is enough.