What Does It Mean to Have Faith?

"Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen."
- Hebrews 11:1-3 Faith in its very essence produces action, for it shows the reality of what we hope for. Faith is the strong conviction that we feel and know to be true when we think of who God is and what He has done. Faith is the evidence in our life of what the world cannot tangibly see. It is proof we are living for something more. We are living for eternity.

Faith to move, to hurt, to sacrifice, to obey can't always be explained, for it comes from a place of knowing our Savior (Jesus) so intimately we ourselves don't need an explanation. All we need is Jesus.

The world would describe faith with a multitude of different definitions. Some may say faith is simply a belief system you choose to live from. Others would claim faith is a blind leap despite logical facts. Some see faith as wishing for something good to happen and trusting that it will. None of these represent Biblical faith, for Biblical faith comes from knowing the One who is faithful (God). Biblical faith involves confident action in response to what God has made known,* not what the world has made known.

The world is broken, but our God is faithful in the brokenness. He is faithful to do what He says He is going to do. He is faithful to be who He says He is. He is faithful to show us the reality of what we hope for and the evidence of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1).

That is why He left us with so many stories of faith in the Bible. He knew waiting for Jesus' return in the midst of our broken world was not an easy request. He knew we would face hardships, suffering, and trials. So He gave us stories of those who left a legacy of faith and then He had the author of Hebrews put a collection of those stories in Hebrews 11.

Choosing faith is choosing God. The stories in Hebrews 11 are a compilation of men and women who chose faith in the midst of trials, hurt, and unforeseen circumstances. They chose God and left us with a legacy of faith to look upon, learn from, and ultimately choose to live out as well.

Want to learn more? Check out the Hall of Faith resource in our shop!

#halloffaith #faith #faithresources *NLT Study Bible pg. 2276