Faith!

Faith!

Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality--faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. HEBREWS 11:1 AMP

Today's extract opens up God's hall of faith, men and women who through ordinary daily living pleased God so much that their names are penned down as examples to emulate. Please note that the word 'perfect' is not used to describe any of them, at least not by man's standard, but if God accepted them, that should be good enough for us. All of them had their shortcomings, fears and stories, but most importantly, they had God, and that proved enough for them. Is God enough for you too, or do you need something extra to give you a sense of completeness?

The ingredient spoken about today is faith, something so intangible to the human eye, yet so fundamental to human existence. You cannot legislate on faith, yet you cannot please God without it. In fact, you cannot live regular, daily life without a measure of faith. Why is it so important? Do you get into a bus without having a measure of faith that the driver is qualified to drive? Do you get on a plane without trusting that whoever sits at the controls knows what s/he is doing? If I can take earthly daily decisions in this manner, how much more when it is the decisions that have a bearing on eternity?

What is this faith? Today's extract refers to something that is abstract in very concrete terms. Faith is called evidence and title deed. You do not make a reference to something unseen as evidence. You do not go to a court of law and argue evidence based on feelings or emotions. You do not lay claim to something without a title deed in support of your claim. However, when dealing with God, a few of these things stop to make logical sense. How do you explain Abraham leaving the familiar, simply because he heard a voice telling him to leave? How do you fight a war with pitchers,  torches and trumpets, unless you are either very sure of who sent you or you are very stupid.

Either way, there is something that cannot be explained by words, keeping you sane and grounded, even when the world around you is going to pieces. Men and women of old lived and died by their convictions that God is true, even when things around them didn't make sense. Some didn't have the right foundations to stand before God, yet Ruth, a Moabitess, cut off from the assembly of God's people, found herself listed in the genealogy of Jesus himself. Faith is the one thing that catches God's attention and is the key to a life that pleases God. Without it, we would not survivie the world's pressure. Is my heart settled on God or does it have viable options? His time of favour is here.