What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of ironclad things we cannot yet see (Hebrews 11:1 NLT). If we believe we have it, we have it. But trust that ebbs and flows back and forth according to circumstances, is not faith – it is hope.

When we say we believe God’s promises, what is it we believe? Do we mean we will believe God – if He answers our prayers? If so, we are practicing hope. Faith in God does not change just because He does not heal our bodies, restore a marriage, or resurrect a failing business.

God’s primary goal with mankind is to bring us into eternal life through our faith in His Son. Nothing that happens to us on this earth can compare to the importance of our eternal dwelling place.

I was trying to help a family that was going through an extremely difficult time. But their position kept moving away from my own understanding of what faith is. They insisted that God was going to do exactly what they were asking Him to do because they felt it was “promised” to them in the Bible. To them, this was faith.

God did not answer their prayers the way they thought He would, and their “faith” was shaken. They began to doubt whether God existed. Now they must go through more challenging times until they learn to believe in Him rather than what He does for them. This is always a painful experience, but it can lead to believing things “not seen.” Gradually we learn that faith, itself, is our evidence.

Hebrews 11:6 emphasizes that we must have faith in order to please God. Faith that He will provide what we need, when we need it, to help us on our way to Heaven.

Noah had to keep building the Ark for one hundred years! He had no evidence that a flood was coming, but he believed God was leading him.

God is leading you and me! We are building our homes, families, churches, or work. Verses 35-40 make it clear that everything we are building may stagger under the pressure of the world, but God will give us BETTER things if we trust Him!

If we trust Him, we can then rejoice in the Lord always.

                                                                                       (Reprint from June 2014)