Faith: How to Believe in What You Can't See

A quick lesson for those who don't know - faith is simply what you have when you're believing for something you can't see. It's the hope that what you're believing for will actually happen. If you don't have it (whatever "it" is) and don't believe [it] will come then you don't have faith. I know it's hard for people to believe in something you can't see. We need it in front of our face sooner or later; we prefer to see things. We tend to trust our eyes more than our heart. Faith is supposed to bring results, but can we get results on faith alone?

Faith needs action. What kind of action? The actions that match what you say you're believing for. For example... if I have faith that I'm going to get a car next year, then I'm going to be shopping around for the car between now and then. This action doesn't say that I'm going to buy the first available car I see, now you're in impatience. Faith is accompanied by wisdom. Wisdom says if I cannot afford the car then I shouldn't go into debt to get the car. So faith needs actions and has wisdom. What is wisdom? I would say common sense, but there is no such thing as common sense in my opinion. Common sense is only common to a group of people and if one of those people doesn't apply that sense then it isn't that common now is it? I'm sorry I got sidetracked a bit... faith.

How can we believe in something you can't see? Let's take a modern-day example to attempt to answer this question. Most people that work get paid at least twice a month. You believe that that check will either be handed to you or direct-deposited to your checking account at or around those days when you'll get paid, right? Why do you believe that? You didn't see it happen. You won't know that it happened until the day it's supposed to happen. You're exercising faith in what your employer has told you. Based on the agreement you have between you and your employer, you'll do work for the employer and the employer will pay you on the specified dates. If that doesn't happen, then you would be angry with the employer because they didn't do their end of the agreement.

So we have another angle to this faith thing... trust. Going back to the scenario, not only did you believe that you would get paid on those days, but you believed that the person that said they would pay you on those days would actually follow through with what was said. So can there be faith without words? Not likely. Faith is based on what is said... now here's the next step. It's not based on what YOU say... it's based on what someone else has already said. Have you ever had a situation where you believed in something so much and you said it would happen and then it didn't happen? Then you're mad and upset and wondering why it didn't happen. What were you saying? Was it in agreement with what you were believing for... or was it just complaining when you didn't see anything lining up to what you were believing for?

I'm about to wrap this tutorial up in a little bit but there's one more component I want to bring into the picture. Let's summarize... faith requires words, faith requires trust, faith requires action, faith requires belief, and faith requires action. I think that's everything so far. So how do we put all of this together? It sounds like a lot, but it isn't really... but here's the catch. Are you ready? Think back to my earlier example. You believed the paycheck would come when it would come because the employer said it would come, right? Someone in authority told you when the checks would come and how they could come to you, and you believed them... because they were in authority. If you had the janitor tell you that, you probably wouldn't have believed that, but when the CEO tells you a thing... you believe it more readily, because it is the CEO. If anyone should know, it would be the CEO, right? Those of us that believe, we have a CEO... His name is God. If you believe what God tells you, then you'll get the results you should have. If God tells you that you don't have to be broke, then you can have faith that you don't to be broke, because He told you that. If God tells you that you can be reconciled to your family, then you can be reconciled to your family, because He told you that. How can you find out what God has said? You can only truly believe through what the Scripture has said. It has been proven through centuries and still stands true for today's issues and situations.

Faith is believing in what God has said for your situation. If you don't believe in God, then you're at the mercy of some other authority figure... but in my opinion, there is no higher authority than God and what He has said. God always stands behind what He said; nothing else is guaranteed to have that kind of track record. So back to my summary... faith requires trust. If you don't trust God, then you won't believe in what He said. Faith requires action. Once you know what God has said, then you have to apply it to your life. Constantly repeating what He's said will get it in you to where it'll come out of you when you need it. Faith requires wisdom. If you find yourself in a situation that requires a decision, then you'll know what decision to make because of the wisdom of what God has said. His Word is full of wisdom for every situation.

Some of you may be like, "this whole article is based on how to believe in something you can't see, but then you talk about God... who I can't see." That's correct. The first real act of faith is believing that there is a God to believe in. Without God, what is the use of faith? Without God, you're really not in faith, you're just hoping or trusting in luck. If it worked out, then it was good luck, if it didn't, then it was bad luck. Who wants to live life like it's the lottery? Maybe you'll win, maybe you won't? Why not go for a sure thing? It's a great way to start this journey we call faith. It's how we that believe in God actually live our lives; we have to... there is no other way.

How do you believe in what you can't see? You have to believe in the One who sees all first then have faith that He'll help you see it. Then when you see it the way He sees it, you can say it the way He says it, and you can do it the way He does it. That's real faith... everything else is just a false hope.