By Faith


By Erik Farstad

February 5, 1998


"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

All of us have birthdays. You know how when your birthday approaches you get excited and anxious. Well if you don’t at your age, remember back to when you were younger and did? You knew you’d receive presents, cake and other special treats. But there were some things that you didn’t know would happen, some things you didn’t expect and couldn’t anticipate. Birthday’s are a combination of assurance and anticipation. My friends, so is faith.

The word faith appears 27 times in Hebrews 11. What you will see is that it is ‘by faith’ that we live and ultimately die. It is where and to whom you put your faith in that counts. Your faith can lead you to understanding things you’ve never understood and bring about amazing changes in your life. Read about the amazing things faith can do in Hebrews 11.

But what is faith? Webster Universal Dictionary defines faith as; trust or confidence in a person or thing. Ok, so that is how we humans have defined faith for our own understanding. But what does God ask of us? How does he want us to define our faith in Him? Put yourself before God right now. He asks you, "My child, define the faith you have in me?" What would you say?

First of all understand that faith is a gift. Every time you give your faith to someone, you are saying that you trust that person. Acting on faith shows that you are full of assurance and certainty. You see, faith doesn’t have a beginning and end that you can always see. Much like your birthdays you know you will receive presents and treats, but you won’t know what they are or what form they will come in. Faith is knowing, believing and trusting, but not knowing exactly how the particulars will be accomplished.

So I hope God wouldn’t have to ask you to define your faith in Him, I hope He’d be able to just see it! Faith isn’t a word or a definition, it’s an action. I’ve said before that when we take our eyes off of Heaven and put them on this world, this world (your world) false apart. Where you place your eyes, is where you place your faith also. If you look to Heaven for your answers, God is there to greet you because you’ve shown your faith to go to Him. When you look to this world, yourself or someone else, you will be alone in your search.

I know I’ve said a lot here, I usually do. Just remember these things: Faith is sure in God and certain that He will take care of you. Faith is a gift. Are you giving your gift to God or someone else? Finally, faith is an action. As humans we often struggle to want to "do" something to get through a hard time or difficult situation. No action, event or circumstance that we try to change on our own, measures up to having faith in God to get us through it. If you want something to do, if you need to take action, then have faith in God. That’s the biggest action you’ll ever take!

Let this be your prayer today:
Dear Lord, I desire to give my gift of faith to you everyday, especially in all the little things I do. For I know if I don’t turn to you first, I will look to worldly things to live and solve life’s problems. May you be glorified today and always through my living. In Jesus’ name, Amen.


In Him, "E"