Faith Is . . .

Explaining faith to those who doubt the existence of faith can be summed up similar to this, which surprisingly supports the existence of faith that can be found in everyone.

A man (woman) agrees to take a job with a company.  The company tells the man that he will be paid every two weeks.  The man agrees to the terms and accepts the job.  The man reports to work the first day, works eight hours, and afterwards, he goes home.  The next day the man repeats what he did the first day.  The man does the exact same thing for one week straight.  This is a classic example of faith in action.  The man has placed his faith in the company, believing that he will be paid when he gets to the end of the pay period, which is supported by him going to work every day and not getting any form of compensation during the period.  Payday comes and the company gives the man his first paycheck.  Now that the man has his paycheck, he does not need faith anymore because the thing that he had hope for, the thing that he believed he was getting from the company is now a reality.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1 KJV).

Now faith is a well-grounded assurance of that for which we hope, and a conviction of the reality of things which we do not see (Hebrews 11:1 Weymouth New Testament Translation).

Now faith means that we are confident of what we hope for, convinced of what we do not see (James Moffitt).  Faith is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen.  Faith is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us even though we cannot see it up ahead.  Faith has been around since the beginning of time.  Faith is trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof.  It is having trust in somebody that you consider worthwhile and truthful.  It is also accepting that something exists when there is no physical proof of its existence or of its reality.  While broad in its usage, there are two truths concerning the activity of faith.

First, faith provides substance or assurance.  Then, faith provides evidence, in the sense of proof that results in confidence.  There is not a lot of difference between assurance and evidence except for their qualifiers.  One involves hope and the other involves realities that are unseen.  Everything that you have learned has come through your five senses or through sense knowledge.  Faith is not perceived by the senses because it is the evidence of the thing hoped for and not the thing itself.  You do not need evidence to believe in something that you can physically see, taste, smell, hear, or touch.  The evidence speaks to the fact that the thing exist somewhere, otherwise you cannot have evidence for something that does not exist.  Then there is where you believe something is right or beneficial and you act in accordance with that belief.  To believe is to accept something as true or real.

Whenever there is faith, there is also some type of action involved.  Everywhere you see faith expressed in the Bible, there is some type of action associated with that faith.  Faith is acting, which is the action, upon what you believe.  You have to start with something and that something is belief.  You first must believe, which is accepting that something can be true or that something is real.  Then you will need faith, which is believing or trusting that something is, especially when there is no logical proof that it exists.  Next, there is action, which is doing something in order to reach a goal.  Once you reach your goal, which is basically the end of the race, then there is no more need to have faith.  You do not need faith for something that you can physically see, that you can physically taste, that you can physically smell, that you can physically hear, or that you can physically touch.  Once you physically see it, taste it, smell it, hear it, or touch it, then you do not need faith, because now you actually have the thing that you had hoped for, so there is no need to continue hoping for it, you have it.

In our story, the man’s faith is tied to the belief, the well-ground assurance that he will be paid when he is supposed to be paid.  The evidence of his conviction is tied to him going to work every day, even though he cannot see the reality of the thing he hopes to get, which is the pay.  Once the man gets his paycheck, he does not need faith anymore because the thing that he had hope for, the thing that he believed he was getting from the company is now a reality.

There are many who fail to understand the power of faith and how it works.  We hope this example will help in your understanding of faith.

Enjoy your blessings and remember to be a blessing to others - KW