Seeing The Way Forward

July 3rd

Read: Hebrews 11:`1

Seeing The Way Forward

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” - Heb. 11:1

Have you ever had someone tell you to, “have more faith”? Have you wondered exactly what “faith” is anyways? Jesus tells us that the smallest amount of it can move a mountain into the sea! (cf. Matt 17:20 etc.) Is it even something that you can have more of… or something that you can whip-up on your own? (cf. Eph. 2:8,9)

Hebrew’s tell us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” At the heart of faith is HOPE and CONVICTION. To walk with Christ is to consistently consider what it is we are “hoping for”. To be faithful people is to be hopeful people. There ought not to be hopeless Christians! So this begs the question:

What are you hopeful for?

How “sure” are you about those things that you are hoping for? These are genuine questions that the children of God must wrestle with. At the heart of the matter is something that we cannot see right now… this hope is rooted in something not yet experienced… not yet fully observed. To walk with faith means to move forward even when you cannot see exactly how it all works out… to move trusting what you cannot yet see for yourself. This is the “conviction of things not seen”. This begs another question:

Do you believe there is an unseen realm?

As the people of God, we are sure of what we hope for and convicted of what we cannot yet see. We know that there are things we have not yet fully experienced… or that there are ways God is working that we just cannot envision. In that way, the scriptures declare that, “we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7)

There are many biblical answers regarding why we ought to be hopeful for and what it is that we cannot yet see but are “convicted” of… but I wanted to begin his chapter of Hebrews 11 by putting the questions out there. Are you sure of what you are hoping for? Are you convicted of what you cannot yet see? This is faith according to Hebrews 11:1! Take a moment today to write out or atleast think through what you are most hopeful for and what you are having a hard time seeing but are remaining committed to! Ask the Lord to give you clarity around these ideas. If you do not know the answer to these questions, ask him to show you… he will! John 16:13 tells us “he will guide you into all the truth”. The Holy Spirit will lead you to these answers. May we walk by FAITH today, being given by God a sureness and clarity around what we are hoping for and a strong conviction about what we cannot yet see! We will look closer at this passage of faith in the next devotions together. Love you guys! - JDP