Faith

Have you ever thought about how hard it really is to have faith as an adult? What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 tells us, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." 

It's not a terribly difficult concept to understand, however, as adults, it seems to be a very difficult thing to actually do in our complicated lives. 

I remember when I was younger, faith wasn't that big of a deal. I remember learning about it in Sunday School, Youth Group, and Chapel. It seemed easy...of course I can trust God...of course I want His will...sure, I can be patient...hmmm...why was faith so easy? 

Because I didn't have a lot of responsibility. 

I have found, as an adult, It is harder (practically speaking) to live or "do" faith because of responsibility I have as a Husband, Father, Provider, Spiritual Leader, Good Steward of our families money, and the list goes on...

Why does responsibility make it more difficult to have faith? 

Because we all have a natural tendency to try and control every single circumstance and "iota" (like that word...its Hebrew) of our lives as adults. 

We play out countless hypos in our mind and talk out how we think each circumstance will play out trying to gain some CONTROL over the unknown. 

Now it's good to seek godly counsel on issues we need guidance on, but it's a whole other thing altogether when we try to do God's job for Him.

Why do we do that? 

The unknown is scary. The unknown makes us helpless. The unknown makes us vulnerable. 

Back to FAITH

Hebrews tells us that faith is confidence in what we hope for. Do you realize how hard it is to have confidence in something that hasn't happened. This seems to be a contradiction to the rational mind. It's just not possible. The rational mind tells us we can only have confidence in what we know or what we can control. 

Hebrews gives us a "part 2" of the FAITH DEFINITION - "assurance of what we do not see" 

Honestly, this verse makes me want to scream. How are you assured of anything if you can't see it, or touch it, or have some sort of tangible anything???

There is only one explanation for all this--Faith is not a human function. Faith is not natural for man. Faith is contrary to rationality. Faith is a confidence that comes from God. Faith is an assurance that comes from our Savior. 

Faith is a peace that passes all understanding that guards your hearts and minds. Faith is how God reveals His supernatural will to us. 

ITS SUPERNATURAL

(that's a song by DC Talk by the way)

If you don't put much stock in the supernatural, you probably have very little faith or your faith is weak. 

TIME TO BUFF UP!

Challenge: Ask God to fill you with peace, confidence, and assurance that He has His Best for you in every aspect of your life that you just can't seem to "nail down."

Let the Lord surprise you with his perfect will by trusting Him with the unknown.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!