“For without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
Faith Defined
Ever wonder why your faith may waiver at times and be impenetrable at other times? Per this scripture, faith has everything to do with your trust in God’s character, your conviction in his existence, and your belief in his desire to act on your behalf with a limited or a lack of concrete evidence to support it. When in re-examining the way that faith is used in several examples provided in Hebrews 11, we can see that faith leads to action even in the face of any concrete evidence to prompt it. Most importantly, there is a profound belief in who we serve which perpetuates what we do.
Faith Believes
So then what will prompt action? The question is not what, but “Whom?” Whom will prompt you to act based upon your faith and belief? That answer is “God,” for it is not the belief in a thing, but in a person. From Hebrews 11:6, we can read more about the characteristics of this person. First, we know that He exists. He is neither an imaginary person nor a fabricated one, but in fact He is alive and well. Talking to the Sadducees in Luke 20:38, Jesus said “Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” Did you catch the hint that gave God’s existence away? Jesus spoke about God in present tense, not past tense.” Moreover, God is not a God of anything or anyone that is dead. Therefore, our faith cannot be dead, it must be living, held in the present at all times, and fully active as well.
Faith Rewards
Can you remember a time when you worked hard for something yet after you finished, you were rewarded with nothing? Maybe you put in a lot of time and the task took you longer than expected. Maybe you had to give up something like fun with your friends, rest, or even time spent away from your loved ones. You expended the energy and came away empty handed. This is an experience that most of us have had, but it’s not an experience that is ever described in the Bible in an active relationship with God because Hebrews 11:6 paints part of God’s character as “a rewarder.” This means that we will never go ignored or unrecognized for our unwavering trust and belief in God’s desire to bless us. We can trust that our unwavering faith and belief in God will be met with a response that not only favors the work that we put in, but also serves as reinforcement or the maintenance of that work.
Faith Seeks
James 2:14-26 talks about the relationship between faith and work, but most importantly in verse 26, it reads “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” In the case of our Hebrews scripture, to obtain the reward, a work of some sort must occur on our part. Furthermore, this reward is conditional upon a work that we must not only initiate, but also maintain. The latter half of our Hebrews scripture states that we must continue to “diligently seek him.” This is the work that we must continue to do throughout our lifetime as a Christian. No matter what is going on, whether life is calm or perilous, we must continue to diligently seek God and have unwavering faith that he will reward us for doing so.
If your faith wavering due to feeling tossed to and fro? Request a consultation with me and let’s tap into the gift of God peace, which Christ promised surpasses all understanding.
Want more resources on how to build your personal faith and/or spirituality? Check out these amazing resources.
The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred… by Benner, David G. (amazon.com)
Falling for God: Saying Yes to His… by Moon, Gary W. (amazon.com)
