Now faith is what?

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark. (Rabindranath Tagore)

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1)

Way back when I was in Bible College, I was asked to present a paper on the topic, "What is faith?" Now, less you think I might have received a good grade on that paper, I would like to report I received a great big "C" on that work. Passing, but lacking. What I came to discover as "lacking" in that paper was anything of substance from my own experience. It was 'theologically sound', but it lacked anything that actually described the effects of faith, the resulting change faith brings, or any such 'experiential' component of faith. Faith IS more than just a theological 'thing' that is needed for a man or woman to enter into relationship with God. Faith IS more than a hope of something more - it is the very thing that helps us to walk out this day-to-day, where the rubber meets the road trust in what God has begun within us. As Tagore indicated, it is the thing that actually knows the light is coming when there is nothing more than darkness surrounding us. 

Is faith 'tangible'? I guess some may think it is, but it is more of a 'knowing' deep within that in spite of all that we can see, there is much more going on that we don't see. Faith is based in trust - in truth. Until we hand our hat on truth, faith is pretty much just a 'hope' for something to happen. When we listen to God's truth, grabbing hold of it with all the strength we can muster at the moment, we are doing more than just 'hoping' God will intervene. We are trusting him to do so! Look us trust in the Oxford Dictionary and you will find the very first definition is: "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something". That 'someone' is God himself. That strength we receive to step out when our own strength is waning is his strength energizing us to take that step. That ability that intervenes when we are not sure what we are to do is his ability, not ours. Faith is trusting in both his strength and his ability to do what we are unable to do - what we do not see clearly or understand completely.

Some may think faith requires a thorough understanding of what is happening. I am here to tell you that faith seldom understands fully - there may be a smidgen of understanding, but as I said before, there is way more going on in the background we don't see or understand! Faith isn't 'mustered' - it is gained in trusting. Trust the wrong source of strength and disappointment will soon befall us. Trust the right source (God himself) and the situation may not change, but the ability to rise above it does. Just sayin!