SYNOPSIS: Between the journey of faith and the destination of faith—faith obeys. It grits out a determined obedience in a faithful direction, by believing, trusting, and expecting that there is no more important issue in this life than to follow the call and carry out the commands of God. And it does so with great delight—not because it has to obey, but because it wants to serve. As J.R.R. Tolkien said, “In the last resort, faith is an act of will, inspired by love.”
Project 52 – Weekly Scripture Memory // Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
What is faith? In its simplest form, it is belief. Yet it is more that mere intellectual assent, because the Bibles tells us, “Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19) Belief is important, but it is only the beginning; belief begins the journey of trust.
Faith that walks in trust says, “I will put my complete confidence in God and his promises—even though I may not see any evidence at this point that those promises will be fulfilled.” In fact, sometimes the evidence even seems contrary to the promises of God. But faith trusts anyway. It is sure that what is hoped for, that is, what God has promised, will come to pass, relying on that certainty as the evidence of faith itself. (Hebrews 11:1) Aquinas wrote,
Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.
Trusting faith is expectant faith. It believes that God rewards. It believes that at the end of the day, the earnest journey of faith will be met with the eternal joy of God—both the joy that is revealed in the smile of God at our faithfulness (itself, the biggest and best reward of all) and the joy that is felt as the crown of righteousness (along with all the other tangible wonders of eternity awarded in that moment) is placed upon the head of the faithful.
In the meantime—in those steps taken between the journey of faith and the destination of faith—faith obeys. It grits out a long obedience in a faithful direction, believing, trusting, and expecting that there is no more important issue in this life than to follow the call and carry out the commands of God. And it does so with great delight—not because it has to, but because it wants to. As J.R.R. Tolkien said, “In the last resort, faith is an act of will, inspired by love.”
You see, faith, more than anything else, is both focused on and fueled by relationship with Almighty God himself. It is not the results of faith that drives the faithful, it is the relationship experienced along the way that is most important. That is the very heart of Hebrews 11, the greatest chapter in the Bible on the lives of the faithful. None of them saw God’s promise tangibly fulfilled in this life, but they were commended for their faith because they kept a penetrating focus on the next world as the real object of their journey. (Hebrews 11:13, 39-40) That is why God was pleased with them. (Hebrews 11:16)
You, too, can join that illustrious list of God-pleasers if you will live by faith—believing, trusting, expectant, obedient, God-focused faith.
He finds that irresistible!
To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. ~Thomas Aquinas
Reflect & Apply:If it is impossible to please God without faith, then the most important investment of your life’s energies and resources will be in nurturing your faith. Not always an easy task, but a worthy one. Take a moment to consider what Gordon McDonald wrote about faith: “To trust in spite of the look of being forsaken, to keep crying out into the vast, whence comes no returning voice, and where seems no hearing; to see the machinery of the world pauselessly grinding on as if self-moved, caring for no life, nor shifting a hairbreadth for all entreaty, and yet believe that God is awake and utterly loving; to desire nothing but what comes meant for us from His hand; to wait patiently, ready to die of hunger, fearing only lest faith should fail—such is the victory that overcomes the world, such is faith indeed.”
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