In last week’s lesson on faith, we discovered that faith is the means of accessing things that we EXPECT to happen. Now let’s take a look at the rest of this verse:
“Now faith is . . . The proof of what is not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1b HCSB)
Okay. So what does THAT mean???
Let’s look at a couple of real life situations: You’ve been battling an aggressive type of cancer. The doctors say there is no hope. They give you three months to live. But God has told you through His Word that you will be healed. In addition, God has confirmed this message to you through other believers.
In this scenario, God’s promise, your cure from cancer, is “what is not seen”. Your faith in what God has told you is the “proof” that you will, indeed, be healed!
The Bible is full of promises that are just as impossible-sounding as being healed of cancer. For example, God has promised to supply all of your needs. But the bills are piling up, the kids are starting to go to bed hungry a couple of days a week, you’re already getting their clothing from your neighbor’s hand-me-downs, and if you can’t make your electricity payment, your power will be cut off next week. Finally, the landlord has already told you that if your rent isn’t paid in full by Christmas (you’re behind $2000.00 and it’s already mid-October!), you will be evicted.
In this case, “what is not seen” is God’s promise that your needs will be supplied, and the “proof” is your faith in God’s promise. Or, stated differently, your faith in God’s promises is the “proof” of your needs being supplied!
I could state hundreds of other examples, friends, but they would all point to the same truth: Your faith in what God has promised becomes the proof that it will indeed come to pass. If you do not have faith, then you have no proof.
Enough to ponder, friends. But do ponder this: When you put your faith in God’s promises, you have just given yourself the “proof” you need for it to become a reality!
But does this really work? Please join us next Saturday to see!
God bless you!
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Author, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets, www.scripturalnuggets.org, Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org .
(To access tne entire “Faith” mini-series, please click here.)