Now faith is...

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.'     

                                                                                                         Hebrews 11:1    NKJV 

To understand faith a little deeper, let us look a little closer at this verse. It mentions two words, Substance and Evidence:

Substance is the reality of the situation, this contains the material or matter that occupies the space, of it all.

Evidence is the proof or fulfilment of the situation. There must be substance and evidence for faith to work. Faith is made up of a plan, rather like a builder and architect would create to build a house. Therefore, faith contains building blocks and this contains the substance and requires the evidence to give it clarity and credibility. So if God tells us to carry out a faith-filled task, it needs to have a substance in our minds eye that we hope for and then, there needs to be the reality of it all - the evidence and fulfilment.

To have faith in something is to have confidence about it and the expectation without visible proof, that it will happen (2 Corinthians 4:18). God is trustworthy, so faith is acting like God is telling us the truth. It includes growing in your understanding of God. The heroic saints mentioned here in Hebrews 11, trusted Him by faith and won God's approval. They acted on what they believed and, this is the key. Do you act on what you believe? Are you able to trust God enough to know that, what He is leading you into He will fulfil and supply?

2 Corinthians 4:18 says, 'while we do not look at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.' 

 Tony Evans comments further, 'Paul can call his affliction momentary and light because he does not focus on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.   Tony Evan Bible Commentary

So things are not rigid, they are subject to change, therefore look at the obstacles and tribulations in this way. Declare that they are temporary in Jesus' name. We should focus on what is unseen not on what is present. You may feel this is a tough order but, if you are a believer you have been doing this anyway because you believe one day you will be in heaven. You haven't seen it but you know it is there. So really, there is no difference when you walk by faith not by sight, is there?

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