Faith: Believing Before We See

Hebrews 11:1, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

I recently started reading a devotional book by Donald Baker. It's called "Joshua, The Power of God's Promises". At the end of the second chapter, I was instructed to read Hebrews 11 and look, "... for insights on what it means to be a person of faith." ("Joshua, The Power of God's Promises" by Donald Baker. Page 14.)

Hebrews is one of my favorite books in the Bible. Chapter 11 in particular has been one I've loved to read for years. This time, new things stood out to me, though. It amazed me that I could read that chapter so many times and not have seen the things that I saw this time around.

As I looked for what it meant to be a person of faith, I made some grand discoveries.

I wrote down the things I noticed as I read through this chapter. Some of them are these:

• Creation - God made something out of nothing. He made something we can see out of something we cannot see.
• Noah - He had to believe something would happen that had never happened before.
• Abraham - He had to go somewhere unfamiliar and live there.
• Sarah - She had to believe God would do the impossible.
• Abraham - He had to trust God and obey even when He didn't understand.
• Isaac - He spoke blessings for the future over his sons before he saw those blessings come to pass.
• Joseph - He had to have faith for deliverance before that deliverance came to pass. 

What I realized was that the people had to believe before they got to see.

It's easy to say we have faith, but how many of you have found that it's much more difficult to show that we have faith?

Imagine being Noah... He had to build the ark before there was even a single raindrop on the ground. He couldn't see with his physical eyes any reason for needing an ark, but He took God at his word, and his faith moved him to action.

Imagine being Sarah... All human reason for hope is gone. She's old. She's had the change of life. However, God had made a promise to her, and she had to believe that He would do what was humanly impossible.

When I studied Hebrews 11, I realized that my faith needed to not be empty words. I needed to truly believe God would do what He promised me before seeing the results of that faith.

God promised me years ago that He would send my husband to me. This was the one time in my life that I knew that I knew it was God speaking to me and it wasn't just my imagination. I knew beyond a shadow of any doubt that it was God. At first it was easy to believe that promise. I looked around and thought, "Could that be who God is sending my way?" However, days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months, and months have turned into years. I'm still waiting for that promise to have visible evidence. But, today I claim that promise even before seeing it with my physical eyes. God promised it, and that is enough for me. He will keep His promise to me.

I hope this devotional will encourage you if you are struggling to hold onto the promises of God. Hebrews 11:1 is a very comforting verse! Be confident that what you hope for will actually happen, and be certain of what you cannot see. If God has made a promise to you, He will come through. Keep believing and having faith!

Dear Heavenly Father,

Studying Hebrews 11 caused me to realize that I need to believe and keep on believing. I don't need to worry about what I can or cannot see with my physical eyes. All I need to know is that You said it and You will never go back on Your word. Thank You in advance for what You are doing. I believe that You are working. In Jesus' Name.

Amen.