Faith. Have you ever wondered how something so powerful could at the same time seem so difficult to define?
What is faith? It’s a word that we as Christians hear very often. Faith in Jesus, God’s Son, and His sacrifice for us, has saved us from eternal punishment and death. Faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for us is the foundation for salvation. It puts us in connection with God. But how does this faith turn into something real in my daily life, when I do my tasks at home, at work, or wherever I am? What does it really mean to have faith in God?
A living faith in God
Not long ago, I had a personal revelation about faith. You can put it this way, that faith has become very real for me. It changed from being something that I struggled to understand with my head, to something that has entered my heart. Faith is now what keeps me going during the day. It guides my daily decisions to make the right choices.
Faith has become something I can touch, something practical, personal. It has changed my view on life. Actually, it has changed everything. Not in a general kind of way. But in a way that has affected everything from the ordinary daily tasks to the big trials and tests, from believing that I will have enough strength to finish a task after a long day, to having faith that I will come to a complete fullness of divine, godly nature (Ephesians 3:19). Personally, I would say that this is what it means to have a living faith.
Faith – the proof of what we don’t see
I’ve always wondered about what it means that faith is the proof of what we don’t see. “Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see.” Hebrews 11:1 (CEB).
How is it possible to believe in something I can’t see, or don’t even know anything about? Like for example, that my future – even if it is unknown – is safe in God’s hands? But I’ve realised that faith really is the proof of what we don’t see, because the moment I start believing, it’s already happening. Something changes in my heart and that what I have faith for becomes reality.
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.” John 15:7 (CEB). I have full faith in this and experience this, every day! From asking something simple, for example, that I will be able to find transport, or that an evening with my church’s children group will be blessed and good, or prayers for the others for their healing and protection, I experience that God answers prayer again and again. This gives me even more faith, and even more of a desire to pray – I am dependent on prayer, I need to pray. I can pray for the small daily things or the big trials and tests, and be at rest because I know my prayers have been heard.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” Psalm 34:8. This is how I experience God!
Faith in God gives victory
I believe that I can get victory over sin. As well as helping me come to rest in the practical things of daily life, faith has helped me believe that God who has begun a good work in me, won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6, -CEV). That doesn’t mean that I do nothing and just wait for something to happen, no, faith makes me fearless in my battles. If you had to go to war 100% certain that you would come out of it alive and with a victory, wouldn’t that give you all the strength and courage to fight and to take risks, so you win the victory you already see ahead of you?
Faith gives us victory over the sin in our life. Faith promises that it is 100% sure that we will get victory over the sin in us. And with it comes a very great blessing. A deep rest. Unshakable joy. Power to overcome even more.
With faith, the invisible things become visible. I experience God’s invisible power and strength that I didn’t have before. I get grace, which is help, and I know that because in the areas where I struggled before, it becomes easier bit by bit. Where I used to be scared to admit my mistakes, it has become easier and easier the more I do it.
I get even more faith when I see that all that God does and gives to me, I couldn’t have done on my own. God is real, He is Almighty, and seeing what God does for me gives me even more of a desire to serve Him.
Faith in God brings rest
Faith, trust in God, victory, and rest go together.
Faith brings rest. Rest because I know my life is in God’s hands. Rest because I am winning victory over the sin in me. Where there once was a constant battle against the evil in me that seemed to rise up again and again, victory makes an end to the battle. There is an end. Rest is the same as victory!
“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin)…” 1 Peter 4:1, (NRV).
In other words, because Christ suffered in the flesh, that is He went through the pain of giving up his own will, I should also be ready to do the same. Anyone who goes through the pain of giving up his own will stops sinning.
Just fully believing this verse makes it easier not to give in to temptation. It seems heavy and difficult now when I have to give up my own will, but if I keep giving up my own will and doing God’s will instead, there will come a day where I will no longer be moved when I’m in a similar situation. I will have rest in the middle of the storm. I will become unshakable!
Faith makes life light and easy to live. Faith gives me confidence. There is not a day where I have to worry. Faith stops confusion. Faith ends all doubts.
Faith in God is a choice
Faith is a choice! I can pray for it, but in the different situations of life, I have to choose it.
Choosing faith has nothing to do with my feelings or my own understanding. I don’t need to feel full of faith, I have to choose to believe everything that is written in God’s Word. The more I do that, the easier it becomes. Faith changes things!
Faith means holding on to God’s promises (which are written in the Bible) even if I am weak and wretched. Faith is a choice of the heart, and everyone can make that choice.
All we have to do, is take one step of faith. Choose to believe; let faith completely change your life!
“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’” Malachi 3:10 (NIV).