Faith, the Confident Belief

Faith… Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
• Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.

1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. – Hebrews 11:1

Faith. It is a word that I throw around in my everyday conversation. I used it when I taught others about God and the example of great people before us. I knew what faith is. It takes a lot to trust that God is God and that He sent His son to die on the cross. Faith shines bright when God has answered someone’s prayer and hope rises in those who are holding onto a promise.

Then I hear words of others who took a step of “faith”, sure of the hope they had that God told them to step and certain that God was with them. Their stories are amazing and awe-inspiring and hope filling. When I hear other faith stories, I desire my own story of faith and the fulfillment of God’s faithfulness to my obedience, my faith.

The one thing that is often times missed in the end stories are the moments of wondering, tears, and pleading with God to come through. The hardships are often times left out or diminished in light of God’s glory. I understand why. When God does something amazing in my life, all the agony, tears, and hardship that brought me to the moment fades in the light of God.

The past several weeks have been a trying time for me and my family. I knew without a doubt that I have made the right decision and that I obeyed God’s prodding, but the timing of answered prayer has not come in my timing. And it is testing my faith to its seems.

One of the trials that I am going through with my family is our house in Iowa. In the past, God has given us homes and sold our homes. We packed up the Iowa house and with beaming faith, we left it, believing that God will sell it. Of course, our time table is quite different than God’s. It has not sold yet and beyond that, we have had incidents from our neighbor and the city. The latest incident is our garage. It is officially condemned which means we have to tear it down and at least put up two retaining walls. That requires money which we are tight in that area.

The other one is jobs. I honestly did not think I would struggle hard to find a job but I am. Most of the places have not called me back. Others have told me that I am overqualified. I was offered a position at Target but they never called me back. I did get a job at a bookstore but that is in question if I pursue a full-time job.

So now it is getting tight and each day seems tighter than before. As each day passes, the conscious decision to trust God that He will not forsake us gets hard because my humanity wants to take over and somehow find a solution. Yet I am in a position to see God do something amazing and awesome in my life. The waiting is hard. The trusting is hard. My humanity threatens my faith but I have to let go. I have to choose to trust that God is bigger than me and that my situation is minor compared to other things. It is difficult to be so casual about it and let it go when fear knocks on my heart daily. But one day, I pray and hope that I can share with you the amazing story of how God was faithful to us as I stepped out in faith upon His direction.