Faith in Practice
A walk of faith can be very elusive for many of us. We understand that “faith is the substance of
things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1 KJ)
For those of us who have been in church for some time, these words are quite familiar. But do I
really understand what these words mean? Upon closer examination, I begin to understand
that my faith is tied up in my belief that God is the God that I have come to know in all of my
situations. When I needed stuff, he provided me the stuff I needed. When I was down and
depressed, he put his arms around me for a little while then picked me up and set me on my path
again. When my body was ailing, he massaged every little bone, muscle, organ, nerve and blood
vessel until it was ready to work again. When I was fighting a battle against my adversary, he
provided the weapons I needed and the skills to use them.
So if I believe God to be God then I can continue on life’s journey with hope. Hoping that my life
has meaning, hoping that God is really in control and that the outcome is going to be good,
hoping that everything is really going to work out. So if things are going to work out all I need to
do is to occupy until he comes. Rather, I need to be about my Father’s business taking care to
glorify God in all my daily tasks.
When I have hope, I can accomplish daily tasks whether they are trivial or significant. When I have
hope, I can face all situations knowing that ultimately, the outcome is in God’s control. I can
relinquish my own desires to change them to God’s desire for me. When I know and understand
the will of God, then I am in that perfect place to receive all of God’s promises.
So, why is it that while I understand all of this, I still have trouble as I continue on with life hoping
and waiting for the promises of God? When you lay it all out it seems so simple, BUT…
I don’t know how to WAIT while I HOPE.
I’m willing to wait, hoping to receive a good outcome. But as soon as I see any sign that
things are not going to turn out the way I had hoped, I lose faith.
I don’t know how to WAIT without HOPE.
If I am waiting and I have no hope, I flounder around aimlessly looking for anything to grab hold to.
Then ultimately, I end up retracing all of the steps I’ve gone through before.
I don’t know how to HOPE while WAITING.
If I have hope and begin to wait, I am content for a while. But then I begin to question if there really is
any hope at all. Did I understand God? Did He really promise? Do I really deserve? Then I begin to move
to try to make things happen on my own.
I don’t know how to HOPE while not WAITING.
If I hope, then I wait. If I am not hoping, then I am not waiting. I can only wait if I have hope. If I don’t
have hope, there is no need to wait. But, if I am hoping for the things that God has promised, I wait and I
wait and I wait. I wait knowing I will receive everything that God has promised.
And there in lies the answer; a walk of Faith is not hoping and waiting until you receive the promise. A
believer walking in Faith, in the face of odds against them, when there is nothing to hold on to, whether
the outcome can be seen or not, BELIEVES!