Faith

We were just babies ourselves when our daughter, Faith was born. Married just 11 months and one week, we were still in college and worked full-time jobs to provide for ourselves. I was 21 years old, and Heath was 24. What were we thinking? Honestly, we weren't thinking.

After the initial shock wore off, we embraced excitement. Soon, though, that excitement turned into fear. How in the world were we going to raise, let alone pay, for a baby? We weren't even grown ourselves...at least, I wasn't. Daycare costs were out the roof, diapers and formula were at prices that I thought had to be a joke. But it was no joke. A baby was coming, whether we were ready or not. We named her Faith, due to the simple fact that we knew our precious gift, straight from Him, would be raised totally on faith in Him alone.

Today, we have a smart, sweet, kind-hearted, and Christ-loving 13 year old. God has provided abundantly for Faith, and for us, and we thank Him every day for her.

As I was reading in Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, the morning, I thought of all of the scary situations those leaders and figures of the Bible found themselves. Verse 6 says, "And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Is it really impossible to please God without faith? Read on in the chapter. I would say, yes, it is impossible to please God without faith.

Think about it...if you can "figure out" every situation in life that you encounter, where is there room for faith in God to work it out? If we can see the end result of every hardship we face, where does it leave room for God to move and to work for His good pleasure? In fact, how can we even call it "faith" if we know in advance how this is going to work out? Verse 1 gives us the definition, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

Ah! There it is...confidence and assurance. Faith isn't the same as hope. No, hoping means that we have in mind a desired end-result, but we know there's a chance that it may not happen. Faith means we have confidence and are assured that God is in control, and therefore, the situation will be fulfilled according to His will.

And what is His will? That we would know Him, and that others would know Him. It's very simple.

Think about the situations mentioned in Hebrews 11. All of them had an end result of people growing closer to God. All of them had an end-result of eternal significance. The situations in our lives are no different. What is God trying to do in and through those situations that we are so fearful of? Maybe...just maybe...He's trying to use them to draw you, and others, to Himself. Are you looking at them, and acting within them, through faith?