Faith… is believing enough?
Hebrews 11: 1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Webster’s 1828 defines faith as “Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting on his authority and veracity, without other evidence; the assent of the mind to the truth of a proposition advanced by another.” It would seem that faith is all about believing…but is believing enough?
God chose a man, Abraham, who was born and raised in Ur, a pagan land where the people worshipped other gods. Abraham was a pagan who became the father of the Jewish people.
God spoke directly to Abraham and told him, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation…” 75-year- old Abraham, his wife and nephew packed up their possessions and left to go to a place they didn’t know.
As a bi-vocational pastor, I’ve met lots of new people. My favorite question is, “What brought you to Stevens County?” All but a few say, “God brought me here.” My wife Lynn and I came to Addy the same way; God brought us here. We left family, friends, jobs and our home and came to Addy. Abraham, those others I’ve talked to over the years, Lynn and I all believed in God, but that wasn’t enough. We had to go to the place God had for us.
God brought Abraham to the land that the Jews occupy today.
When God told my wife and me to sell our home in Everett, the real estate market had crashed. We expected to use the profit to build our home in Addy. When it was done, there wasn’t enough money to build the home we planned. We moved into a small cabin and shop we had built a few years earlier. One morning as I was looking out the cabin window, I sensed God saying, “Build the house.”
I believed that God was my provider. I had experienced His provision in the past, but this was taking that faith to a new level. I couldn’t hire a contractor; it would have been too expensive. I was going to have to build on my own. And if I started on my own, there would be no way to get a construction loan later if the money ran out.
I made a call to excavate a foundation. When I hung up the phone, I felt like I had stepped off a cliff blindfolded. I had no idea how this could work out. But I had faith in God.
Before the foundation hole was done, I scheduled the concrete contractor and ordered the lumber, windows and roofing. That first construction season we got the house weather tight. During the winter I wired, scheduled the sheetrock and connected the heating system. When summer was over, the house was nearly done. We moved in just before winter.
God provided everything we needed to finish. I’ve heard similar stories from some of those folks I mentioned earlier.
We had believed, but if we hadn’t put our faith in action, we wouldn’t have a home here in Addy. We moved up the staircase of faith and we gained a greater perspective of God’s character.
What promises has the Lord made to you? What has He asked you to do that seems impossible? It may be time to put your faith in action and take a step up faith’s staircase.