Wait… What Is Faith?
"Just Have Faith!" We say it so often, but what does it actually mean?
What qualifies as faith and how do we know if we have it?
In the Bible, Hebrews 11:1 tells us “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
What’s something in life you recently put your faith in? Like you just believed that no matter what, it was going to come through? For me, (though slightly embarrassing) this is the most recent experience that comes to my mind-
You know when you first meet someone you really like and you're excited to get to know them so you never want to miss any of their calls? When he calls you’re literally sprinting to the phone and before you pick up you’re collecting your breathing pattern just to play off the fact that you flew down the steps, hurdled over the dumbbells in the basement, and nose dived onto the couch to pick up. (breathe, girl, breathe)
You’ve been talking for some time now and there’s a rhythm in place. He calls. You call. He texts. You text. So naturally, you’re expectant (a.k.a you have faith), based on the consistent communication pattern you’ve experienced with this person, that by the end of that day you’re going to talk with him on the phone.
But the real truth is that it actually may or may not happen. You may or may not talk to each other. It isn’t certain and it remains unknown because you can’t see into the future. You don’t know if he’ll have a dead battery and can’t reach you, but yet you’re steady there by the phone, waiting. Why?
Because you have hope and you believe that he’ll call because of what’s happened before.
Faith is always required when we’re believing that the things we cannot see or the things we’re not certain of, will somehow come to pass. If we’re ever 100% certain on something then that doesn’t require faith.
2+2 = 4. It doesn’t take faith to believe that because it’s a fact. 2+2 will always be 4. It will never not be 4. But will this man call me today or not? 🤔 So many things can come into play with that question and it’s the ability to believe past those looming uncertainties that defines faith.
However, just believing in what you cannot see is not all there is to faith. In fact, for it to be faith, 3 things are required:
Faith requires action.
Faith requires you to trust in something/someone.
Faith requires you to hope for something/someone.
FAITH REQUIRES ACTION
That’s why the bible includes the word substance. In the original Greek writing of Hebrews 11:1, the word support is used.
Faith is not only what you’re believing but what is supporting your belief. In the eloquent words of Mandela (not the president, actually our super cool Worship Leader at Union Church) “Faith is the action behind what you believe.” That’s what the bible means by substance/support- it’s the things you’re doing right now in reality that supports what you’re hoping will come in the future.
So if you’re hoping for a new car, having faith for it doesn’t stop at just believing. That’s like wishing on a star, clicking your heels twice, and walking away thinking you’ll come back to a car at your door. No boo. Faith with substance starts with opening a savings account for that thing, putting aside money towards it every month, and going to the dealer to test drive it a couple more times just so you could visualize that it's yours.
If I’m hoping for ol’ boy to call me, then I’m making sure my line is wide open based on the times I noted he usually calls 😆. Car or Boy, regardless of the experience this remains true- having faith requires taking action because “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).
FAITH REQUIRES TRUST
Faith also requires you to put your trust in something or someone. You can put your faith in anything- in your job, in your skills, in your friends, in your money. Whatever person or thing you’ve put your faith in, you’ve chosen that because it’s proven to give you a particular result on a consistent basis (that’s how trust is developed). Why do you think the first thing Olivia Pope reached for after a long day of saving crumbling political systems, entertaining a scandalous affair, and battling with some serious daddy issues was that giant wine glass? Because she knew it was consistent in taking the day’s edge off.
Well, that is…until it wasn’t (cue infamous breakdown scenes).
Even the best bottle of wine or the most consistent of friends can fail us at times. That’s why the bible urges us not to put our faith in things first or in man first, but in God first because He can never fail. He literally cannot… like…He’s actually incapable of failing.
2 Timothy 2:13 says that even “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself..”- meaning God cannot go against his character of being consistently Himself and nothing or no one, not even Himself, can go against that.
What is God’s character? Well, I encourage you to discover that for yourself because He will absolutely amaze you, but I will share what Hebrews 13:8 says:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” So if He was able to create new life in the beginning of time, He can create new life now. If He was able to save four decades ago He can save now. If He was able to heal three years ago He can heal now. No where else will you get that kind of consistency, dependability and reliability as the perfect place to put your faith in, especially for someone who loves you as much as Jesus does and is for you as much as Jesus is.
That’s why throughout this blog, the place we’re choosing to put our faith in is Jesus and, therefore what we’re choosing to put our hope in is His word. Which leads us to our last point-
FAITH REQUIRES HOPE
Honestly, this should’ve been the first point because if you’re not hoping for anything then you can’t put action behind it or even trust in anything for it. But you’ll be surprised how many of us say that we have faith for something and actually have no hope at all. Maybe because we’ve tried to believe in something so many times and it left us with nothing but disappointment… Can I keep it real? Maybe we even feel it was God who disappointed us.
But what if our lack of hope is because we’re not hoping for the right things. Romans 10:17 says “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” It’s in God’s word that you’ll find what to hope for. But if it’s outside of His word, then we’re hoping wrong. His promises cover every aspect of our lives and are far greater than what we could think for ourselves.
Is it wealth you're hoping for? Provision? Good health? A spouse?
His Word promises us this and more. But (and this is a big but) we cannot hope in God’s promises and not do things His way and then expect the same results we read in His Word. Failing to acknowledge this is often where disappointment comes from. If we’re hoping for wealth but fail to be generous, or if we’re hoping for good health but fail to keep our bodies as holy temples - Then ultimately, the math ends up…not mathing.
But you may be asking yourself, “well, others acquired wealth and good health without doing half the things God requires. How then, did it work for them?” Again, God cannot deny Himself and His word does not return back void. We’ll get into this another time, but there are principles that God has put in place in the world, that (whether you follow Jesus or not) if you work them diligently, it will definitely bring some results. But you’ll find that when you exercise God’s principles without Him, it ends up taking a lot more out of you. You may acquire wealth but you may lose peace struggling in your own strength to keep it all together. You may get that job but you may lose your heart from all the people you cut through to get there. I gained what I thought was my dream career- runway shows in Barcelona and designing for prominent black Influencers- but I also lost rest and my striving to get myself where I needed to be brought me more anxiety than I could bear.
So this time around, I’m not hoping without God and I’m not building without God because I’ve seen that when I do things His way I can keep my peace and my dreams.
What say you?
If you’re ready for faith to actually bear long lasting, unshakable, unimaginable results in your life, then we’re on the same page! So how about we get this ball rolling then?
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Have any thoughts or questions to share about this blog? Check out this Recap Podcast Episode on here . Until next time!
Love,
Nyorh
