Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
I sure hope the Steelers win the Super Bowl this year! I hope it doesn’t rain today. Hopefully, I won’t get the flu this year. For what things do you desire? We put out fertilizer on our grass and hope it rains. I remember as a child that I hoped Santa would bring me what I asked him to get me. Hope is an interesting thing because it leaves the chance that it might not happen. When I leave my house in the morning, I hope I don’t get into an accident. When I eat out, I hope I don’t get sick. I hope I don’t have a flat tire. Hope is one thing, but faith takes hope to a whole new level.
Faith is Assurance
Faith is simply being sure. No doubts. No uncertainty. In our church, we have a saying that guides us. We say, “God’s God It.” This statement means that regardless of the circumstances or outcomes, God is in the result. How do you look at faith? Suppose you’re in a hospital and about to go into that deep sleep we call surgery. What is your mindset? How do you feel? Apprehensive? Are you scared of the unknown? Are you Worried? All of those are natural responses to the uncertainty of surgery. But the faith we’re talking about is more about the object of our faith rather than the activity. I say that only because when we put our faith something to happen, it must happen because of Someone. That Someone is God.
When we hope for something, we are hoping that God does it. It isn’t by chance that things happen in our lives, but we have a whole chapter in Hebrews that points us to people who had faith in God to work things out in their lives. Faith is what helped them wake up each day and live another day honoring the Lord. For some, faith is easy. For others, it is a constant mental exercise between the reality of a broken world and God’s activity in that world.
I want to encourage you today to have no uncertainty but be assured that God is and God will. This assurance is a firm assurance that promises God’s activity in your life and your circumstances. Your circumstances may not always turn out the way you thought they would, but you experience the assurance that the Lord is with you through it, and that is the real assurance.
Faith is Conviction
Faith is also the ability to see the reality of those things not seen. This explanation is a little more abstract, but it is an understanding that God is always working (Romans 8:28). There is never a time when God is not working to arrange the chess pieces of our lives and helping us to be in a place that honors Him. We can only do that when we have that conviction and solid understanding that God is working in the unseen.
I am positive that you’ve experienced this if you’re a believer. When things happen in your life, “for no explainable reason,” you may wonder how it could have happened? That is the conviction of those things unseen. When you miss a traffic accident by only a few seconds, that could be the conviction of those things unseen.
The protection and guidance God gives you that you never think about is also the conviction of those things unseen.
So really, the definition of faith is both the absolute assurance that God will bring to pass those things which you desire as according to His plan for your life and the ability to see and understand the reality of those things not seen.
God is always working for His good in our lives, and we must trust that. There are things that we don’t understand in life, but we have to trust God with that. Our faith must be strong and sure. Is your faith strong? Do you have the confidence that God is working in the unseen?
Use this week to exercise these two concepts and think about how they relate to each other. God is so good and faithful to us. The least we can do is to have faith in Him and His activity in our lives.