It does take a little faith

Good morning, everyone,

Our theme for this month: “You are not alone”

Our Bible verse for today: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “It does take a little faith”

There have been a lot of games created in the history of mankind, from intricate complicated games like chess, to simple children’s games like “hide-and-seek”. Probably my favorite game ever is the game of “peek-a-boo” that adults play with infants. I cover my eyes with my two hands and say to the child, “I can’t see you.” But then I quickly remove my hands and declare, “peek-a-boo, I see you!” And typically, the child’s face will light up with a big smile as they giggle and laugh. I love it!

I sure do wish God would play “peek-a-boo” with me once-in-a-while. I wish He would uncover His face and let me see a brief glimpse of Him. Maybe He could peel back the sky for just a moment, poke His face through and say, “Psst … Jim! Look up here!” That would be enough. Just to see His face. I would never doubt Him again, I promise!

But sadly, our five senses cannot experience God directly. We can only experience Him indirectly. We can see evidence of His presence with us like in the wonders of His amazing creation. We can sense His presence through a feeling of deep peace. We can “hear” Him speaking to us through His written word, or perhaps in the words of a song. We can receive gifts from Him, often delivered to us through the hands of other Christians. There is an abundance of indirect evidence testifying to the reality and presence of God. But it is indirect not direct.

And that’s where faith must come in. God has taken us right up to the very edge of providing positive proof to us, but He has stopped just short of it. He has left just a smidgen of room for mystery and wonder and yes, even room for doubt. And it is at that point that we must choose to believe anyway. That’s faith.

Hebrews chapter eleven is often referred to as “The Faith Hall of Fame”. In that chapter God identifies sixteen individuals by name as being heroes of the faith, as well as a host of other unidentified faithful ones. The word faith is used twenty-six times in those forty verses. In verse one God even defines faith for us. It is, “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” The dictionary defines it as, “Having complete confidence and trust in someone or something.”

And there it is – God wants us to have complete confidence and trust in Him, complete assurance that He will be there for us as He has promised, even though the evidence He has provided falls just short of what our five human senses can prove.

Our theme for this month has been “You are not alone.” It was based on Jesus’ promise in Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I abandon you.” It is my prayer that through this study we have all come to a greater awareness and assurance of God’s presence with us always.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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