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| Section: Walking In The Faith |
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| Category: Biblical Teaching / Lesson |
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| The Substance Of Things Hoped For..... |
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It may be one of the hardest of all scriptures to understand, but it's really one of the simplest concepts in the Word of God:
Heb 11:1
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." -NKJV
The entire chapter goes on to give one example after another of people throughout scripture who trusted God for amazing things, even though many of them never saw the fulfillment of the promise with their own eyes.
Imagine living close to 200 years, always trusting God to fulfill his promise, even as you breath your last. Maybe it's a good thing our lives are so short, because that kind of patience seems to be in rare supply these days.
This isn't the subject of my entry today though. I want to try and explain the scripture above a little more clearly. The New International Version puts it as follows, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Sure of what we hope for. Every one of us has dreams, hopes, visions and goals. We want true love, a good job, friends we can trust and family to rally around us in the tough times. These desires vary in intensity and focus, but they're pretty universal in scope. So the Word of God says faith is believing the things we hope for already exist.
A lot of people will roll their eyes and think I'm talking about the 'power of positive thinking'. That's partly true, but not the full picture. To simply be positive in thinking, but live in a negative manner is counter-productive. We can't have faith that our hopes and dreams will come true if the only thing we do is hope, sitting back and taking no action. We have to have something to hope IN. That something is actually a Someone. God. Simple as that.
But there's more: Faith also allows us to be certain of things we can't see. This kind of faith is exercised every day, in a myriad of different ways. We trust bridges to stay up, cars to keep running, roofs not to collapse. We have this faith because, with few exceptions, those things DO work. Shouldn't we then have that much more faith in a God who has NEVER failed?
Maybe you think God has failed. Perhaps you're convinced you've tried it His way and ended up burned. I'll guarantee if you felt burned it wasn't God that did it. It was a church, or just a couple of people in a church. Maybe it was friends who failed you, people you thought were strong who fell away. You find yourself asking why, if this God is so faithful, people who seem to stand up for Him can end up broken and... human.
I can't answer every individual case, but every time I've seen someone fall it's when they took their eyes OFF of God. It's people who trusted God while things were going well, then found their faith shaken when the times of testing came. And yes, God will test us. If we fall He may even discipline us. As the Word says, "...the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." (Heb 12:6 - NIV)
Why? you ask. Why would He punish His children? Because He loves us. Sound contradictory? Any good parent will tell you that if you love your children you will correct them. I'm not a father yet, but I have a young dog, and when he makes mistakes it's my job to correct his behavior. I hate to do it. I hate having to punish Oscar, because I love him. However, if I let that love prevent me from disciplining him I'd only end up with a dog that would be difficult to love later in his life.
How it must break the Father's heart when we fail the tests He sends us, because the truth is that if we pass those tests rich rewards await us.
"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (James 1:12-17) -NKJV
Broken down it looks like this: Faith is the knowledge the things we desire and require have already become reality. It is also evidence that things we can't see do, in fact, exist, no matter how much some may try to deny them.
"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38) -NIV |
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| Date of Submission: 2007-12-17 11:12:30 |
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