Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

This verse often brings to my mind the story of Abraham and Sarah. When God promised to make Abraham a father of many nations and that he would have a son (Genesis 17:5-6). Sarah herself laughed at that idea (Gen 18:10-14) Abraham was steadfast in his faith and “contrary to hope, in hope, believed” (Rom 4:18) and Sarah bore a son (Isaac) to him, which led into the lineage of Jesus.  When God makes us a promise, He always fulfills it within His perfect timing.

We must have faith and believe in things that aren’t tangible to us. Faith is the literal substance of things not seen. It’s a day by day struggle for me to be faithful to Him, and to trust Him in everything. “If we are faithless, He is faithful, He cannot deny Himself.” (2 tim 2:13) Our faith in God should be an example of what faith is. Trusting in Him is something I lift up in prayer almost daily.

I also think of this particular verse from the song Oceans by Hillsong United “In oceans deep, my faith will stand” When I go through trials and suffering, when the oceans of life seem to swallow me, I must put my faith in God and stand firm. God is steadfast.

When the Holy Spirit put the IGNITE program on my heart, I knew it was right and of God but at the time I had no financial means of getting there. I put my faith and hope in God and his provision. I was in prayer about it almost daily. Within the next few weeks I was blessed with a job that I grew to love dearly.

We cannot always see how God is working in our lives and the lives of those around us. But we must be faithful to Him and trust Him in all things even when we have no immediate understanding. Romans 8:24-25 sums it up rather well in my opinion “Hope that is seen isn’t hope for why does one hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see we eagerly await it with perseverance.” 

Something that I’ve been struggling with a lot this past week is homesickness and worrying about my family to the point of distraction. Everyday for this next week, I’m going to surrender those worries and anxieties through prayer during my devotional time and not dwell upon them afterwards (My RA and others will keep me accountable to this). I will have faith and trust that God will take care of them.