What Is Faith?

I am soooo not a TRUE blogger!  I was afraid this would happen at some point – not having the time to write.  It’s not like I don’t have anything to say, I have started a total of 39 blogs (that’s 39 different topics) and have not been able to finish even ONE!  Now that’s sad.

So for the sake of putting something out there, I thought we (we as in you and me) would talk about faith.  Faith is something that most people struggle with from time to time.  Just when you think you’ve mastered it WHAM! you find yourself blindsided by yet another faith-shaking situation. 

So, what is faith?

 The most quoted verse regarding faith is Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”   

Charles Spurgeon said, “Faith goes up the stairs that love built and looks out the window which hope has opened.” 

What a beautiful picture! 

How do we get faith? 

Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” 

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:18,  “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

“…we fix our eyes…”  What does it mean to fix your eyes on something?  The word fix actually means to concentrate but it also means to attach or place permanently – well there’s the problem right there.  Our eyes are not permanently attached to God.  When we live in a state of communion with God, faith comes naturally.  Imagine communion/fellowship with God as an umbrella of protection shielding us from the elements of anxiety, doubt, and fear; once we step out from under that umbrella, we are vulnerable.  If we’re going to navigate our way through this wicked world, we are going to have to “…walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7), but in order to do that we will have to master the art of fixing our eyes on Jesus and not on our circumstances.

How much faith do we need?

Well, Matthew 17:20 says “…If you had faith, even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move.  Nothing would be impossible.”  Did you know that a mustard seed measures only about 1/20th of an inch in diameter?  If it takes so little to move mountains, then why is it we struggle so with faith?  Surely we can russle up 1/20th of an inch or so...

Henry Ward Beecher may have had the answer to why we struggle with faith...He said, “Every tomorrow has two handles.  We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.”  He understood that faith is a choice.  Even as Christians it’s sometimes easier to give in to those things that challenge our faith than to fight.  We would never say with our lips that we choose to believe that God is not able, but in the end isn’t that exactly what we’re doing when we give in to fear and doubt? 

I will confess to you that my greatest struggles are not with the big, earth-shattering, life-changing things.  My biggest struggle with faith is with the small things.  Is God not on the throne in the world of small things also?  Of course He is!  The challenge for me is to put ALL things into God’s hands, to let Him be Ruler of ALL – my schedule, homeschooling, my thoughts, my tongue, every part of me.

What about you?  Do you struggle with faith?  Do you struggle with big things, small things, all things?  Do you pray as often as I do, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”?  Or perhaps you have a specific story of faith.  I love it when we come together to share our stories; it's such an encouragement.  I hope you'll take the time.

Take a look at some of these great quotes on faith:

“Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want.  It is the belief that God will do what is right.” Max Lucado

“Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up.”  Anonymous

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary.  For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.”  Author Unknown

“Faith is like radar that sees through the fog – the reality of things at a distance that the human eye cannot see.”  Corrie ten Boom

“Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.”  Helen Keller

“Where faith is there is courage, there is fortitude, there is steadfastness and strength…Faith bestows that sublime courage that rises superior to the troubles and disappointments of life, that acknowledges no defeat except as a step to victory; that is strong to endure, patient to wait, and energetic to struggle…Light up, then, the lamp of faith in your heart…It will lead you safely through the mists of doubt and the black darkness of despair; along the narrow, thorny ways of sickness and sorrow, and over the treacherous places of temptation and uncertainty.”  James Allen

“Now we shall possess a right definition of faith if we call it a firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence toward us, founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”               John Calvin 

 “Without faith it is impossible to please God…”  Paul