The Hall of FaithSample

Focus on your God, not on your faith.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Peter Kuzmic, a theologian from Croatia, once wrote, “Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future; faith is the courage to dance to it today.” Faith and hope go together, don’t they?

The first verse of Hebrews 11, often called the “Hall of Faith” chapter, describes faith. The point is not that faith is absolute certainty with no doubts whatsoever. The rest of the chapter makes it clear that the emphases of this verse are the phrases “things hoped for” and “things not seen.” Faith inevitably involves the future, the hoped for, the things not yet seen. Faith involves the unknown, the unseen, and the unsettled. 

For example, say you are unemployed and desperately need a job. This is a faith opportunity, an opportunity to trust God. It involves the unknown, the unseen, and the unsettled. It involves things hoped for, things not yet seen. You do not know exactly what will happen—the what, when, where, and how. So you trust God. You are not in control. In fact, faith means giving up control—something that’s hard for most of us humans.

This is the nature of faith. Faith trusts God in the midst of uncertainty. Faith trusts God to come through for us, in his timing and in his way. So when it comes to faith, the point is not that I have absolute certainty. In fact, I do not focus at all on how much faith I have. I do not focus on my faith at all. Rather, I focus on the object of my faith. I focus on God.

The issue is not the size of my faith, but the size of my God. Is God bigger than my problem? Is God bigger than my need? Focus on your God, not on your faith. 

Lord, help me to see you for the great God you are. Help me to put my trust in you for an unknown future. Amen.