A Journey of Faith

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

The words “confidence and assurance” seem to define faith for us in Hebrews, and in the context of our “hope in things unseen.” According to Webster’s Dictionary, faith is: allegiance, belief and trust in, and loyalty to God; firm belief in something that cannot be proven; complete trust with strong conviction.

Confidence: total belief, completely trusting with strong conviction, that God has done what He said He would do, is who He says He is and will complete in you what He has ordained for your completion.

Assurance: being excessively inspired to trust, with total certainty of mind, that God has done what He said He would do, is who He says He is and will complete in you what He has ordained for your completion.

According to Romans 12:3, God is the one who distributes faith. If this is true, how does our faith become strong and grow into something great? And why does Jesus often say, “…you of little faith…” throughout the New Testament if God is the one who gives us faith? Shouldn’t all Christians be given the same amount of faith? Jesus also says, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move mountains”. Doesn’t this sound like something we ourselves possess and have control over?

Well, the answer is: yes, yes and yes. Faith is initially given by God, it is then something we possess as a precious gift, as we have seen just enough building blocks along the way, and it is also something that we can choose to cultivate and grow into something great. As His children, we all receive the same amount of faith through His Holy Spirit at the doorstep to salvation, but it is up to us to ask, seek and knock… to continue the journey, and it will be given to us freely! Faith is a gift, planted within our hearts through the hearing of His Word, the affirmation by His Spirit, and our choice to totally believe and take hold of that faith . After all, our salvation is built upon faith, which guides us to the grace of God .

Throughout our adult lives together, God has taken my wife and me through a journey of faith that has allowed us to truly grasp hold of God in ways beyond our wildest imagination, and it hasn’t been easy either… He has carried us through to the point of totally and excessively trusting in Him. Over the past seven years together, God has revealed Himself in ways that only He can do, and has helped us along the way through our missionary journeys. When everyone around us slapped a “crazy” sticker on our foreheads, He made Himself known to us, strengthening our faith.