by Pastor Rich Carlson  

The famous "faith chapter" begins with a definition. Faith is:

·        being sure of what I hope for.

·        being certain of what I cannot see.

I grew up with that definition as the benchmark for understanding faith—and I never got it. Maybe it was because I didn't have any translation options. King James, bless his ancient heart, was the only one my dad ever liked, so I had to learn: "So faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Or was it the "evidence of things hoped for, the substance of things not seen"? It just didn't quite cut it for a little boy who wanted to have faith!   

Other things I learned from the chapter include:

·        Without faith it is impossible to please God. Now I was in real trouble because I wanted to please God, and the only way to do it was by having faith, and I couldn’t remember if it was evidence and substance or substance and evidence.

·        That there were a lot of famous Bible characters who had faith, because they got their names listed in the chapter. I knew I wasn't Abraham or Abel, Jacob or Joseph, Enoch or Isaac.

·        That with faith I could part the Red Sea or knock down the walls of Jericho. I wasn't famous, I wasn't in the list, I had never parted any water or knocked down any walls (though I did knock down a few of my brothers blocks, but I don't think God or my mom saw that as an act of faith).   

But then came the ah-hah moment in my faith journey (or was it my journey toward faith?) I found two steps in my search for faith in this chapter, along with one result:

·        I must believe that God exists.

·        I must believe that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

And if I do, I'll understand. It's all in the same chapter; I just missed it. Verse 2 says, "By faith we understand." Verse 6 gives me the two steps to get to faith so that I can understand. It's all about taking a stand for Someone I cannot see: God. It's all about trusting in that Someone who will give me something far greater than my futile searching for a more tangible way. I will understand if I take a stand, and trust. I think that's faith for me right now—a combination of trusting, and acting on that trust.

I pray that you too will find success in your faith journey. 

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. "God is Faithful" is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.