“Do not anxiously
look about you …” (Isaiah 41:10, NASB)
Let’s take a few minutes to think about faith. The Bible says that without faith we can’t please God, that it has accompanying action, and that it is what gives substance to and evidence of what we believe. For instance in James 2:17, we find scripture saying:
“In the same way,
faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
From
this verse we can see that true faith has accompanying action that proves its
existence. Also, Hebrews 11:1, KJV says:
“ … faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.”
True
faith gives substance to what we believe causing a resulting action or attitude
that is a manifestation of our faith. For instance sitting down in a chair
gives evidence that I believe the chair will hold me up, and not collapse when
I sit down.
I
know I am making faith very simplistic in this, but it really isn’t that
complicated of a thing. We use it in the natural realm all the time. It works
the same way in the spiritual realm. Faith evidences itself by responding to
what we believe, because it gives substance to what we believe, substance that
can be trusted and acted upon.
I
know of a young lady who moved into a new apartment. Her first evening there
she was feeling a bit scared and kept looking out the window to see if she
could see anything. Then she prayed and asked God to protect her and her baby
in their new home.
She
continued looking out the window and feeling a bit afraid. Then it finally hit
her that if she prayed and asked for God for His protection then she needed
to believe that He would do it, and
that she needed to quit anxiously looking out her window.
She settled back, quit looking out the window and enjoyed the rest of her evening as God’s peace settled over her and her new apartment
