Faith – Devotion 77

Do you ever struggle with your faith?  Do you ever find yourself doubting?  Do you feel challenged by all that you hear and see and can’t reconcile with God’s love?  I would imagine many of us find ourselves in this place at some point.  I might even imagine we find our faith challenged even more in times like these.  When things are uncertain, we are pushed.  When there seems to be no end, we are anxious.  When all we have known is shifted, we are frightened.  Our faith can be shaken.  It is not to say we do not believe, but more to say we just do not understand.  We can’t seem to make sense of it all in the light of God’s amazing love.  We may feel a little lost or disoriented.  And to be lost or disoriented can be scary.

Hebrews 11:1 reads, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” I mention this verse because there are two things that stand out to me in the struggle.  When our faith is challenged and we find ourselves doubting, we go back to how faith is defined.

First, faith is the assurance of things hoped for.  We are assured that God is still working.  We are assured God has not left us in this fight alone.  We are assured this is not the end and good is still to come.  We are assured God hears our cries and will rescue.  We may not know when or how…but we have hope God is still at work.

Second, faith is the conviction of things not seen.  That means the things we see should not shatter our faith.  We should not be shaken by the news because the news is not telling us of our faith.  We should not be defeated by our current situation because we don’t understand it all.  We are believing in God who is working beyond our vision.  We begin to comprehend that God is so much more powerful than what is reported.  In our hearts we know God is love and while that may not be what we see, it is what God is up to.  What we see may not be the truth.  Our faith tells us there is so much more.  Our faith tells us that God is not done yet.  Our faith tells us God is more powerful than anything we hear or experience.  God is working.  What are you putting your faith?

Focus Scripture:

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

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