Faith

          The Bible defines “faith” as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We can ask the question as to how many things are there in this world that you believe but still can't see. As a kid, I once went on the roof of our garage with an umbrella, opened it up and stepped off the garage only to plummet quite rapidly to the ground. The umbrella, which I had seen on “Little Rascals” so many times, did nothing to break my fall except get in the way. Maybe it was a lesson in gravity. I don't see it, but it is there and when I jump off a garage roof I am not going to float nor fly, but be on the ground in the matter of a split second. When I fall, I fall down and not up. I don't see gravity, but it is there. There are many things in life that I don't see but that are still present. Habakkuk 2:4 says, “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” 

            This little phrase from the Book of Habakkuk appears three times in the New Testament and according to history, it played a big part in the life of Martin Luther and the reformation. We can also see many examples of how faith is applied in our daily life when things work as they are supposed to work. We exercise faith when we drive our cars, when we sit in a chair, when we board an airplane or a ship at sea. The captain of our ship once told our seasick drummer that he did not have to fear as we were never more than a mile from land at any given time....straight down. It didn't comfort him that much. We all, however, had faith that this vessel constructed of a lot of steel and aluminum was going to float in the water. Faith plays a big part in our daily live and it certainly plays a big part in our spiritual lives. Ephesians 2:8-10 reminds us of just how important faith is in our hope of eternal life. “For by grace are ye saved through faith...” Every time I think about faith, the words of a simple child's song come to mind that I learned while working with Child Evangelism Fellowship. 'Faith is just believing, that what God said is true.” I believe the natural laws such as gravity because I see the evidence of it every time I move around. I also believe in the Bible because God said it and I know it is true. I don't have to explain how things are going to happen, I just know that they will happen just as God said they would happen. I can believe in John 3;16 as being true. I believe in John 14:1-6 as being true and I believe that First Thessalonians 4:13-18 is true. God just used a simple, invisible virus to stop the world in its tracks. God often uses the smallest of things to accomplish His will. How do you respond when you suddenly find that there is a bee inside of your car while you are driving sixty miles per hour down the road? Imagine that same bee inside of your battle armor. You don't know how it got there, but you want to be separated from it as soon as possible. God has His ways of getting our attention however large or small they might be. Yes, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. God said it, I believe it and for me, that settles it. Praise God today for the fact that we can have absolute faith in every word that He has said.