Faith, Trust and ... ?

 

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.”  Hebrews 1:1

“because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.”  Romans 10:9-10

 Disney taught us that all we need is, “Faith, Trust and Pixie dust!” I wouldn’t let my children watch that version of Peter Pan because I didn’t want them getting that idea into their heads. Of course, I didn’t think they’d really believe that if they could get their hands on some pixie dust they could fly, but I didn’t want their idea of faith to be mixed up with this clearly impossible thing. I get a lot of flack for what I didn’t let my kids watch, but my heart was in the right place. I wanted to guard them from the lies of this world and keep their hearts focused on the God who loves them when they were young and so impressionable. That and I just couldn’t stand Sponge Bob!

 When it comes to God, faith isn’t wishing on a star that your dream will come true, it’s being sure that it will. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for…” Are you sure? Let’s define the “what we hope for” part so we can check. The Bible tells us (bolding mine):

·       You are my hiding place and my shield. I find hope in your word.  Psalm 119:114

o   Our hope can be found in the Word of God. It is sacred, unchanging and forever.

·       How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, Psalm 146:5

o   When we hope in God, we are blessed. Our hope is placed safely and it will surely be fulfilled.

·       The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked will remain unfulfilled. Proverbs 10:28

o   Our hope brings us joy because we are assured of its fulfillment.

·       Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is like a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

o   When we have to wait without seeing the fulfilment of our hope, it can hurt. It brings us sadness when we expect to see something, but our timing is not God’s. Notice that is says, “deferred” though. This hope is not in vain, it’s just taking longer or coming in a different way than we expected it to.

·       And in his name the Gentiles will hope. Matthew 12:21

o   Because of Jesus, even those of us not among God’s chosen people, the Israelites, have hope!

·       And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  Romans 5:5

o   While our hearts may be sick (Proverbs 13:12 above), we will not be disappointed. God will fulfill the hope He has placed in us. He places His promise of this in our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

·       For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance. Romans 8:24-25

o   I don’t sit down at the dinner table and say, “I hope I get to eat this dinner!” No. That dinner is right in front of me. No hope is required, it’s already provided. I do hope for complete healing in Heaven. I definitely do not see that right now, but I am assured of its eventuality!

·       Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. Romans 12:12

o   Our hope should bring us joy! In it we find peace that, in His timing, God will bring everything perfection. Because of this hope, this assuredness (hope does not disappoint Romans 5:5 above), we can rejoice. Even though things may not look like we think they should, even though we cannot see the fulfilment of our heart’s desire, we can KNOW that God is ultimately in control and He’s got it! Because of this joyful hope, we can endure in suffering and persist in prayer.

Here’s the Thing: We don’t put our hope in faith, trust and pixie dust, we put it in faith and trust in God. God is real. He is absolute. He is eternal. We can put our faith and trust in Him because when we do it will never disappoint!




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