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WHAT IS FAITH?
Bible reading: Hebrews 11:1-3
1- Now faith is a firm assurance of things hoped for, a demonstration of things not seen.
2- The elders had a favorable testimony because they had it.
3- By faith we know that the world was formed by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made of things that are visible.
What is faith?
“What does the word “faith” refer to? Faith is the genuine belief and sincere heart that humans should have when they cannot see or touch something, when God’s work does not conform to human notions, when it is beyond human reach. This is the faith we are talking about. People need faith in times of difficulty comes with faith. Now, faith in the face of difficulty cannot be separated.”
Most Christians in the Lord think that as long as they recognize God’s name, persist in reading God’s word, meeting and praying, and are able to sacrifice everything and work hard, they are Christians who have faith in God. In fact, true faith means that when our mind and body endure great suffering during refinement or in adversity, we still do not understand or complain about God, but we are able to obey God and persevere in faith in God and follow God.
From the testimonies of the believers, we see that as soon as Abraham was 100 years old, the Lord God gave him a son, Isaac. After Isaac grew up, God asked Abraham to offer him up. Although Abraham was unhappy, he was still willing to endure the great pain of returning Isaac to God, obeying God’s orchestrations and arrangements without conditions. When Abraham raised his knife to kill Isaac, God saw his sincere heart, and so stopped him in time and prepared a burnt offering for him to sacrifice to God. Thereafter,
Abraham was called the father of faith throughout future generations. Another example is Job. He was tempted by Satan: His cattle were stolen by bandits, his servants were killed, a calamity struck his children, he had sores all over his body, and his wife mocked him and asked him to abandon the name of God. Faced with these sudden misfortunes, he suffered in body and mind. However, he did not complain about what the LORD God had taken away from him, but said, “The LORD has given, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21).
FAITH IS A STRONG ASSURANCE!
Job bore strong and resounding testimonies for God, who humbled and defeated Satan. Seeing Job’s faith in Him, God blessed Job doubly, granting him more cattle, sheep and beautiful children. And finally Job died, full of days. Abraham and Job are models of faith and are worthy of imitation by all of us who believe in the Lord.
From the testimonies of Abraham and Job, we can see that when God blessed them, they believed that all that man has and is due to God’s blessings, so they thanked God and worshipped Him; when God’s trials happened to them, although they did not understand and feel the inner pain, they obeyed God and had no complaints. This alone is true faith in God, and it is also man’s sincere heart toward God.
So how can we develop true faith in God? For this, we need to practically experience and appreciate the work of God in our daily life. When we are able to see God’s sovereignty, orchestrations and arrangements for our lives and God’s authority and acts, and have a genuine understanding of God through them, then no matter how God’s work does not conform to our conceptions, we will still be able to maintain our faith in God. Just like Job: he only heard God, but never saw God.
However, he could know the sovereignty of God and see the justice of God among all things. For example: man’s fortune and misfortune, how much money one would have and how many children one would have in life he knew that all these were under God’s sovereignty, not dependent on man’s plans and calculations; he saw who was evil and punished by God, who had a good heart and received God’s grace and blessings, etc. Because Job had experienced God’s sovereignty and justice in his life, had some understanding of God and had developed a true faith in God, he made no demands on God and thought that what he should do was to accept and obey God’s orchestrations and arrangements.
When Satan’s temptations came upon him, although he was unhappy, he knew that all the things he enjoyed were from God and had not been earned by his hard work, and that if God wanted to take them back, he should not complain or misunderstand God but obey Him. Thus, Job gave a resounding testimony to God before Satan and was accepted by God.
In conclusion, if we want to develop a true faith in God as Abraham and Job did, we must experience God’s work in our daily lives. Only when we experience God’s guidance, support, help, chastisement and discipline, and understand that what God does in us is due entirely to His love and salvation for us, can we have a true understanding of Him, appreciate His omnipotence and wisdom, and even more, know that His righteous temperament is inviolable by men. When that time comes, we will have a heart of reverence for God and consequently develop a true faith in God.
Pasteur CELESTIN L. Serge
