God wants us to trust Him by faith. But what does that look like? And furthermore, what is faith?
Hebrews 11:1 states that “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (NET) It is by faith that we first trust and believe in the Lord, and are saved from eternal punishment. “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. …” (Romans 3:22, NIV).
It is also by faith that we live the Christian life. Not faith in ourselves, for we are incapable of it, but faith that Christ will manifest Himself in and through us by the power of His Holy Spirit, as we abide in Him. “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, …” (Hebrews 11:6, ISV)
When we are lacking faith, we begin to fall into patterns of self-reliance, worry and even depression. We may doubt that God is in control, or that He truly cares about us. On the other hand, growing in faith means that we begin to trust God completely in everything. We know that His Word is true, we trust in His righteousness and we know and look forward to spending eternity with Him in heaven.
A. W. Tozer, in his book The Pursuit of God, says “Faith is not in itself a meritorious act; the merit is in the One toward Whom it is directed. Faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus.”
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