Faith comes from hearing and hearing the Word of God. We all long to have more faith so that our lives will be peace filled. If we can take our burdens to God with certainty that He will carry them, we will live in the beauty of true surrender. The question is that we sometimes get our beliefs and believing God confused.

Abraham believed God. He put his life in the hands of God. He believed what God said! I have been thinking about this lately. Do I simply believe in God or do I believe God? How we answer that question will impact our lives of faith.

Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)

God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God. (Romans 4:22)

Living on the coast, I like to watch  the fishing boats going out for the day casting their nets in the waters hoping to have a banner catch day. Upon their return, you can see the birds circling around the boats snatching  up the leftover fish. What if the captain of the boat went out for the day doubting that he would catch anything? Why would he bother to go? But he goes hoping to catch fish because he has been successful before. Our faith similarly grows as we step out in faith believing God. We may not see Him at work, but He goes before us; He hears our prayers and acts.

photo taken by my amazing husband

Believing in God…

Believing God..

As I worked through the issues facing me this last month, the passage in Hebrews 11 dropped into my heart:

 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.

Is there anyone else who senses the lights just got turned up on this passage? Faith is not seeing and believing God. Faith is believing and then seeing. Faith opens the door for our assurance that God is at work, and  this opens the door for us to see. This week ponder if you are simply believing in God or if you are growing in believing His Word. I hope that you will find great encouragement as you seek to grow in trusting Him.