I Choose Joy By Faith

Faith.  Think about faith.  What does faith really mean to you?  Is faith simply wishful thinking?  Hoping for the best?  Something you hang onto like a lucky rabbit's foot or a four-leaf clover?  If so, what happens to your "faith" when tragedy happens -- when your child dies, when your health is gone, when you don't know where your next pay-check will come from, or if it will come at all?


The Bible says that faith is tangible.  Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (King James Version)  That verse, the first verse of chapter 11, begins what is known as "The Faith Chapter" of the Bible.  That chapter, in the New Testament, reminds us of the true stories of the deep faith of some of the heroes of the Old Testament -- Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, and others, too many to mention, the writer says.  This chapter tells how each of these people endured great hardship, faced fierce enemies, mustered great courage, and yet trusted God through it all.  No mention is made of anyone who had great faith but whose life was without hardship, pain, suffering, and heartache. 

In verse 6 of the same chapter, it says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (King James Version)  If you are wondering if your faith is real, re-read that verse.  Have you come to God, believing that HE IS?  God exists.  God is real.  He has a personality, character traits, and unchangeable attributes.  His character, everything about Him that we humans are able to comprehend is written in His holy word, the Bible.  And here, in this verse, it tells us that the first thing about God that we must understand is that HE IS. 

OK, so if you accept the fact that He is, then what?  Read verse 6 again.  Are you seeking Him?  Are you DILIGENTLY seeking Him?  Are you trying to learn as much about Him as you can?  If not, my prayer is that you will begin to seek him now.  But, more than that, I pray that you will get to know Him, not just to know about Him.  I promise, the more you know about Him, the more you will want to know Him -- personally.  Like you know your best friend.  As a matter of fact, He wants to be your best friend. 

So how do you learn more about God?  First of all, read your Bible.  If you don't have a Bible, get one.  There are many new translations which are a lot easier to read than the old King James version that most of us grew up with.  But be careful.  There are also some "paraphrased" versions that are not as accurate as literal translations from the original ancient manuscripts.  If you are confused about which version you should read, ask your pastor or even the sales person at a Christian book store.  There are even Bibles on-line.  I use BibleGateway.com for a lot of my research (see the link to the right, under "Some of My Favorite Resources").  Whatever version you decide on, read it.  The next thing you should do to learn more about God is to attend a Bible study on a regular basis.  Go to a church and join a small group within that church.  You may be reluctant if you have not been in church in a long time, or if you have had a bad experience with a church.  But don't let that get between you and getting to know more about God.

I can't begin to tell you how important those two steps are in getting to know God.  But I can give you a feeble comparison:  What if I asked you, "Do you know who William Shakespeare was?"  If you answered me, very confidently, that he was the writer of several novels about a boy name Tom Sawyer, I would say, "You don't know much about Shakespeare except that he was a writer."  You might sincerely believe that he was from Missouri and wrote about Tom Sawyer, but you would be sincerely mistaken.  Don't make the same kind of mistake about God.  Don't trust that what you think you know is the truth, until you have diligently sought to know Him.    

Verse 6 of Hebrews 11 says that if we diligently seek Him, He rewards us.  How does He reward us?  In the same way He rewarded those heroes of faith in the Old Testament.  He gives us faith, too, just like theirs.  He sustains us in the hardships that we face.  He fills us with His strength.  He shows us how to choose joy by trusting Him.

So, my prayer for you and for myself this week is taken from Hebrews 10:22 and 23, "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised (God) is faithful." (New International Version)