Facing the UnknownSample

THE UNSEEN MAKES HIMSELF SEEN

Faith can be a tricky word…we often think of it as a synonym for “belief” or “trust” or “hope” or probably a dozen other words along those same lines. But, what does it really mean…or, more importantly, what is God’s definition of faith? Well, he tells us straight-up in Hebrews chapter 11. It is, “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” The key words there are confidence and assurance. These aren’t words of blind hope or wishful thinking…these are words of near certainty. 

Now, the “what we do not see” part is what usually trips us up. How can we be confident and assured of something we’ve never seen before? Well, that question alone could be the subject of an entire book, but the writer of Hebrews gave us one quick example. In verse 3, he uses creation itself as evidence of this kind of faith. Essentially, he says, “there was nothing, and then there was everything we see. There was the unseen, and because of God, there is now the seen.” In other words, he calls us to begin looking back on all the ways our unseen God has made himself seen by what he has done. 

I’m not saying that one little tidbit will solve all of our faith issues, but it all points to the big question we all have to wrestle with: do you really believe God is in control? When you’re faced with the big, scary unknown, do you believe that God has it in his hands? It’s a tough question, but let me leave you with one assignment to help you with your faith: make a list of all the times God has come through for you in the past. Think back on your life, and whenever you faced something unknown, what did God do…how did it work out? How did what was unseen break into your life and take care of the problem you could see?