Hope and Faith

Then touched he their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it unto you.” (Matthew 9:29 KJV)

Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith and trust and reliance [on the power invested in Me] be it done to you;” (Matthew 9:29 Amplified)

Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.” (Matthew 9:29 NLT)

I woke up today thinking (worrying, pondering, over-analyzing, strategizing, etc.) about the same situation I went to bed thinking about. It wasn’t difficult to imagine that the far reaching implications of the situation could result in pain and loss for someone – maybe several someones.

It wasn’t difficult to imagine at all. Anyone who’s been walking with the Lord for a number of years has seen the fallout before. We watch as people in our lives make decisions that take our breath away. In our mind’s eye, we instantly see the outcome, (because we have our OWN experience with unwise decisions to remind us,) yet we feel helpless to address the situation. Such is the way when the unwise decisions are being made by someone else. We don’t control all the “someone elses” in our lives do we?

So there I was, waking up knee-deep in the “what ifs” of what could ultimately happen. I found myself hoping that God would choose to be merciful and intercede in the results of the immature decisions I was watching unfold. I was hoping that any small bits of wisdom that I had had the chance to interject previously would be remembered. I was hoping that God would remember that the burden of responsibility for this person’s actions wasn’t theirs alone. I was really hoping that today I would find extreme favor with God, so that maybe He’d dish out a special favor because time was of the essence. I was so hoping that He was paying attention.

Then it hit me . . . .

HOPE is not FAITH

HOPE: the feeling that something desired may happen (cross your fingers!)

FAITH: confidence or trust in a Person or thing; the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures.

Obviously, hope is not a bad thing. I hope everyday. I hope that my mail isn’t getting drenched in my mailbox right now. I hope that my college son is getting enough sleep. I hope that my husband remembers my Starbucks order (Venti, 6 pump, non-fat, no water, extra hot Chai latte). Hope is the “wish” that I have regarding certain issues that pop up from time to time.

But HOPE is not FAITH.

Faith is the confidence we have in the person of God.

Faith is not simply “hoping” that God will come through for us. It is the absolute belief in the fact that – in all things – He knows what He is doing, despite what our eyes see and despite what our minds think they understand. It is the understanding that God is Who His Word says He is.

He is faithful, all knowing, loving, kind, just, able, and overwhelmingly willing to move in any situation, according to His Wisdom and our need.

Faith is knowing, that the God who gave His only Son, so that YOU and I could spend eternity with Him, did so out of a love so deep and abiding that we can scarcely grasp it this side of eternity. THAT love is what we trust. THAT love is what our Faith hangs its hat on. THAT love is worthy of our absolute TRUST. THAT love cannot ever fail. We don’t have to HOPE that God hears us or that He may move in our “situations”. We can know! Because our FAITH is based on the immovable, unshakable, everlasting LOVE of the most powerful Being in the universe. And YOU and I are the object of that Love.

There is really only one requirement on our part. We are required to believe!

“Be it done to you ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH.”

Also posted at: Internet Cafe Devotions