Child-like Faith

        In the past few days, the LORD has been answering my prayers before each bible study in order to guide me in what He wanted me to learn. He guided me through His Holy Spirit that dwells in me to read about faith, and I take this by surprise because I don’t normally read the bible based on a topic. I normally read specific peoples and adventures of history, but don’t try to read based on a topic. I wasn’t sure what God wanted me to read about faith, but I was willing to see what He has in mind. The first thing He guided me to go was Hebrews 11: the faith chapter as people in Christianity call it. This was a good start because it defines what faith is. Hebrews 11:1 says: “Now faith is the substances of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. I am hoping I got the new king james version of that scripture right because I wrote it by memory through God’s Spirit. This scripture defines faith, but let’s go into the greek that the author of Hebrew says to get the full meaning.

        The Greek says it differently: faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Although I had to rearrange the greek to get that scripture, it’s a direct translation. Faith by definition is based on an assurance or a conviction of something you don’t see like a promise or a better reality. God promised Abraham that He would be a blessing and to be the father of many nations. Abraham saw something that was beyond this physical world, and saw that building whose builder and maker is God. He had faith that God would give him a son through Sarah. He believed God who told him the name of his son, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Abraham was assured and convicted that God will give him an heir and an everlasting home in the building God has for him and us. Hebrews said that the mighty men and women of faith didn’t receive the promise, but were assured of them and embraced them: making them want to be strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

        Pistis is the greek word for faith, and it accurately described some of the men and women of faith over time. People like Enoch who was taken away from death because of his faith in God. That didn’t mean that he didn’t die; it just meant that he never saw it. He pleased God because of his faith in an evil generation, and the author of Hebrews said that it’s impossible to please God without knowing that he’s there and that he’s a rewarder of those who seek Him. Enoch sawed Him, and was rewarded. Faith in God and His promises and the things that He does should give us an assurance based on the evidence of what God did and what he’s planning to do. David slung, with a stone, goliath by his faith in God. Jonathan went to the philistines with his armorbearer while God helped with the ark of the covenant nearby. Moses and the children of Israel walked through the red sea to safety while the Egyptians drowned. These things happened because of faith in God and His ability to work in their lives.

        Faith in God means faith in the impossible because God can do the impossible. That’s how the walls of Jericho fell while keeping Rahab and her family safe because her house was on the wall. This faith in the impossible made it so a virgin from Judea could bear the Son of God without ever knowing a man intimately. Faith in God is child-like faith; for a little child has a great deal of faith. Do you believe that the universe and the earth were created by the Word of God? Do you believe that all living things were made from the earth by God, or do you believe that we were all randomly generated by chance? Look at the evidence of creation: there’s design everywhere and you can’t escape it. Creation was designed to be beautiful, so a designer created something good to enjoy. There’s an intention for joy and goodness in creation because it was designed that way by God and Christ. Faith based on this conviction and truth in something unseen is what pleases God.

        There’s so much more to the faith chapter that meets the eye, but I didn’t stop there. I read Romans to learn that man is justified by faith apart from deeds of the law, and that faith was in Abraham who believed in the promise that God will give him an heir that’s named by God before he was born. Abraham grew in his faith in God because he believed that God was able to perform what He promised. He didn’t care about the deadness of himself or Sarah’s womb: he believed with every ounce of courage to believe, and that helped bring it to pass in God’s time. The impossible is possible with God as Jesus said after talking with the rich man. Abraham had a child-like faith in God that made him a mighty man of faith. Do you have this kind of faith? Do you believe that miracles can happen with assurance and conviction? Do you believe what’s written in the bible that God is who He said He is? I know it’s tough to believe in an all-powerful God when He doesn’t perform great miracles; the still small voice is what He uses more often than big miracles. Do you listen to that voice? Are you guided in the Spirit to have a child-like faith? Only you can answer that, O reader.