Have Faith
“Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews explains what faith is, but how do you know you have faith? Do you have faith simply because you tell everyone you do? Do you have faith because you wear a cross around your neck? It is easy to have faith when everything is going great. But what about when life gets hard? When you aren’t sure of the outcome? You might get laughed at. Maybe your friends will make fun of you. You might even get bullied. But you are not alone.
Scripture gives us example after example of men and women that exhibited great faith (the confidence in what they hoped for and the assurance about what they did not see) in the moment in which they were tested. Noah began building a boat for a flood when it wasn’t even raining. That’s faith! David went out to face a giant named Goliath without any armor. That’s faith! Peter got out of the boat and walked on water to meet Jesus. That’s faith! All of these men trusted Jesus, even when they didn’t know the outcome! They had FAITH because they believed God would do what He said He would do!
All too often our faith gets tainted. We doubt. We question. We react. Do you remember life as a four year old? Four year olds don’t over think everything. They don’t readily doubt, question and fear. When their dad says, “Jump! I will catch you!” they jump! They know he will catch them! They trust their father. Do we trust our Heavenly Father with faith like that? Faith doesn’t have to be complicated. Jesus asks us to come with the faith of a little child.
In a small farming town out in the foothills of North Carolina, there had been an extreme drought. The farmers desperately needed rain! The local preacher of that town called for a prayer meeting. He asked all the people to come pray for God to send the rain. One by one the farmers and their families arrived at the church. A little girl no older than five or six caught the preacher’s eye, because while they were all coming to the meeting to pray for rain, she was the only one carrying an umbrella. When I am being tested, I want to be the one ready for the rain. What about you?