Impact - Day 10

Day 10 – What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Faith is a tricky concept. We often describe it as something that happens deep inside—the kind of thing you probably don’t know a person is experiencing. You can’t see it. This often leads us to wonder if we have it.

We pray for more faith and often talk about it like it has the consistency of sand. We try to hold it in our hands but only find it slipping through our fingers. Jesus’ disciples felt this way, too. 

Luke 17 records a fascinating interaction where the disciples say, “Lord, show us how to increase our faith.” (v5). How does Jesus respond? Does He suggest more prayer? Bible study? Meditation? No. He responds, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!” (v6). Jesus refers to the tiny mustard seed, suggesting that the quantity of their faith isn’t the issue. Instead, even the smallest amount of faith put into action has enough power to change things, to make an impact, uproot a mulberry tree and send it into the sea.

When I read Hebrews 11’s description of faith, I think of getting out of bed in the middle of the night in pitch-black darkness. I swing my feet to the floor, stand up bleary-eyed, and make my way to the bathroom or the door to the hallway. I can’t see the floor, the end of the bed, the toe-stubbing possibilities of my wife’s dresser, or the hall door. My body takes action based on faith. My mind held all the same notions moments before I sat up in bed. But it wasn’t fully faith until the potential became reality and my body moved.

It shouldn’t surprise us that the writer of Hebrews unpacks his first verse describing faith by telling numerous stories filled with action. Throughout the remainder of Hebrews 11, we read of person after person who acted in faith.

That’s it. Faith implies action—not just sitting and waiting for something to happen but moving your foot into the spaces of victory God has already claimed. 

‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you…” (Joshua 1:3)

1. What are a couple of hobbies you enjoy? In what ways do they require you to be active?
2. If you could have any superpower you wanted, what would it be? Why?
3. What is something you have wished you could do for God? What is holding you back? What conversation would you like to have with God about this? What do you hear Him saying back to you?