Faith

Faith endures as seeing Him who is invisible; endures the disappointments, the hardships, and the heart-aches of life, by recognizing that all comes from the hand of Him who is too wise to err and too loving to be unkind.  A.W. Pink

One of the hardest things any of us will face in life is faith.  Faith isn’t easy.  When you have faith it means you must learn to live by faith when the tough times come.  It is hard to do that when we are raised in a world where we are taught the exact opposite.  When you are living in a world where you are taught to be in control and to never lose control, it doesn’t make sense to live by faith does it? 

If we look at faith from what the Bible tells us, it doesn’t make sense to our human minds.  In Hebrews 11:1-3 it describes what faith means.  1. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”   2. “This is what the ancients were commended for.”  3. “By faith we understand that the universe was formed by God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”

So if you can’t get faith by seeing it; how do you understand it and obtain it?  The best place to start is the Bible.  In Hebrews 11:6 we are told that without faith it is impossible to please God. We must first believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.  One of the best ways I find to understand faith is to read about those who came before us who practiced faith.

One of my favorite characters in the Bible was Noah.  Can you imagine being Noah in this day and age?  God comes to you and tells you there will be a great flood and everything on earth will be destroyed and to save your family you will need to build an ark that you don’t know how to build because your occupation has never been an “ark builder”.  How many of us today would move out of holy fear and build an ark?  If you look at it from today’s perspective and the average person who owns a home; you would first have to sell your house because there wouldn’t be enough land to build an ark of that size.  You would then need to face the neighbors who would think you were a lunatic.  Oh, and they would laugh every day as you built your ark. 

There are going to be times when God will ask you to step out in faith.  When you read the stories about faith; they all have a common theme.  These individuals had enough faith that they stepped out in holy fear of what God said.  They also believed in faith what God told them.  They were more afraid of not doing what God said, than they were of what other people would say or do to them.

God gives us numerous stories of individuals just like you and me who stepped out in faith and performed miraculous things by having faith in the one who created us.  Take the time to read the stories and then use them to help you step out in faith.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me examples from the Bible than show me how to step out in faith.  You were faithful to each of those who accepted Your Word and followed through in faith.  Give me that kind of faith.  Faith that in confidence I know You are my Redeemer and want what is best for me, and the assurance that even though I cannot see You I know You are always there.

      

Scripture: The Heavenly Hope

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.  Hebrews 11:13-16