A Response

Hebrews 11:^8-9 “It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith…”

We will kick off today’s devotional by concluding what faith is not. Faith is Not Hope. Let’s stay with the party illustration from yesterday. In that scenario, hope says, “I invited the president to my party, and I am hoping he will come.” And we said it is okay to hope. However, in the same scenario, faith says, “The president is coming for my party.” Faith is not just hopeful, faith has assurance. There is an assurance that the president is going to come to the party. When we do not understand faith, we operate in hope and think we have faith. And when nothing happens, we feel bad because we believe we have faith. No, you had hope, and faith is not hope. So, we have seen what faith is not. Now, let’s look at what is faith.

Faith Is A Response To God’s Promise. The president has said he will come for the party. Faith is you responding to that by bringing out the best plates you have, the best cutlery, napkins, etc. We know something will happen when God says it will happen, that is faith. Our response to what God says is faith because of the assurance of what God has said. In the story of Noah, for instance, why did Noah build the ark? Noah was not hopeful that it would rain. He did not even know what rain was. Imagine Noah saying to his children, “I hope it will rain, so let’s start building an ark.”

They may start building with him, but after a while, he will discover that he is doing it alone. In fact, he too will not complete the project because hope deferred makes the heart sick. When you are working on something purely based on hope, it makes your heart sick after a while because hope by itself sickens the heart when the reality does not show up. So, Noah was not building the ark because he was hoping for rain. Noah was building the ark because he was acting on God’s Word. Hebrews 11:⁷ “It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God…” (emphasis added). Noah obeyed God.

What has God told you to do? What is that thing that God has laid upon your heart to do? Therein lies your enlargement because as you do it, you will see the hand of God in action. God speaks His Word. When you take His Word as your assurance and act on it, that is faith. It is not just hopefully thinking, it is actively acting. Abraham believed God would keep his promise. Abraham was not just hopeful. Abraham had faith.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to respond in faith by acting on every Word You have spoken to me and the things You have laid in my heart to do, in Jesus Name. Amen!