Stepping Out on Nothing

Perhaps you have asked, “What is faith?” I’m sure you’ve heard sermons on it and attended Bible studies regarding it. But what exactly is it? How do we exercise it? How do we walk in it? We are all familiar with Hebrews 11:1—“Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen.” But what does that mean? I believe the Holy Spirit has given us the answer.

Faith is believing in that which is not likely or is impossible to happen. Real faith does not just believe in what is improbable, but what is impossible. Real faith doesn’t just believe in that which is not likely to happen but in that which cannot happen. Real faith is not believing in the face of the odds but believing in spite of the odds. Real faith is believing for that for which there is no earthly way possible it could happen.

Let’s allow a few heroes of the faith bear witness:

· Noah exercised faith by building an ark to be saved from a flood, even though up to that time no rain had fallen on the earth.

· Abraham exercised faith by believing God for a son when he and his wife were elderly and she was unable to bear children!

· David walked in faith when he entered into a battlefield to face down Goliath, an experienced and armored warrior. He exercised his faith by believing that God would give him the victory even though every natural and military law would have marked him for dead.

· Peter literally walked in faith when he stepped out of the boat and stood on the surface of the water even though every natural and physical law dictated that he should have sunk to the bottom like a rock.

The best definition of faith I can think of is line from one of Shirley Caesar’s songs. “Faith is stepping out on nothing/landing on something.” Essentially, that is faith. It is believing God for what you want or need even though everything is against it happening. Circumstances, laws, or situations do not bind God. God is God. He can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we may ask or even think.

Genuine faith does not just believe in something or for something that could possibly happen. Genuine faith believes in something or for something that cannot. In short, faith says, ‘yes,’ when everything else says, ‘no.’