Faith

(Hebrews 12:1)

One of the basic virtues in our Christian life is faith. The writer of Hebrews tells us “. . . faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”(KJV) Another reading of the famous faith verse is “ . . . faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (NIV) But what does this mean to us?

Teachers of the Bible tell us trust is a large part of faith. Trust plays out in various ways. Dependability,reliability, and submissiveness all describe the trust relationship we strive to have with one another. These same words contribute to the prerequisite to define trust between us and God. He is trustworthy, we have to learn to relax and submit ourselves over to Him.

By submitting ourselves, we relinquish our lives to God's control. We find ourselves not as bothered about things that once concerned us. This is exactly what Jesus did in Gethsemane. He gave up control to the Father.

From time to time we have circumstances enter our lives that we have to accept and then deal with the hard parts of the situation as they come. As of this writing, my church family is very concerned about three different families who are facing traumatic events. Two of these families are awaiting the demise of a loved one. The third family is watching one of theirs is fighting for life. It takes faith for these people to stand by and watch those dear to them through these times.

As humans, we want life to read like a text book–no deviation from what we call normal. But life isn't like that. We will have trials and tribulations that sometimes vex us. We tire very easily of the stress placed upon us by the circumstances we face. But, it seems God allows these things to enter our lives in order to make us stronger. I know of several families who are facing the possible or impending loss of a loved one. There are others who have been fighting Cancer for a lengthy time. And there are those who face depression every day. All these dear souls rely on God for their strength.