Now we all know about faith. We exercise faith every single day, often without even realizing it. We walk by it without being conscious of it. Everything we do is, in some way, operated by faith.
We need faith to keep us moving, even when we cannot see what’s ahead. We cannot operate without it; we cannot survive without it. Many of us would give up if we did not have it. We rose this morning in faith. We got out of bed this morning in faith. We went to bed last night in faith. In fact, we lay down believing the bed would hold us up. If we did not have faith in that bed, we would not have laid on it.
We had faith in our cars when we got in them that they would bring us to church Sunday morning. We turned the ignition in faith, believing they would start. We had faith in the cleaners when we dropped off our clothes, trusting they would take care of them and clean them well. We were not there when they did the work, but we trusted them anyway. The same applies to auto mechanics. We drop our cars off and hope they do the right thing and charge us the right price. It does not always work out, but we still have to have faith.
Many people put their faith in their doctor, and when you have a good one, that can be a blessing. We thank God for them. We trust their ability to help us, or we would not go to them. If you did not know it, you also had faith in the pew you are sitting on right now. You did not inspect it to see if it would hold you; you just sat down. Some of you even crossed your legs.
We also have faith in grocery stores and restaurants. When food is placed on the table, we bless it and we eat it without a second thought. We bring food home from the store and eat it without hesitation. That is why some of us are sick now.
Faith is believing without seeing. It is trusting in something or someone. It is taking someone at their word. When I was young, if my mother said something, I did not question it. I believed she would do what she said because she had earned that trust.
Faith plays a vital role in our Christian walk. We walk by faith, and it is the difference between joy and no joy. Hebrews 11 is a chapter devoted to faith, highlighting heroes who walked by it, endured trials, saw deliverance and witnessed the impossible come to pass.
That is how God operates. Those who come to Him must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. “I believe God” is what we all need to say. It does not matter what it looks like, feels like or sounds like. We walk by faith.
And if we can have faith in grocery stores, restaurants, beds, cars, doctors and even church pews, then we ought to be able to have faith in God.
He may not come when we want Him to or when we think He should, but He always shows up at the right time. How we respond in the waiting depends on our faith. Do we believe God and what He says?
A Gentile soldier, a centurion, once came to Jesus in a desperate situation. He pleaded, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”
Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”
But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. But speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, He marveled at his faith (Matthew 8:5–13).
This centurion’s faith made the difference, and his servant was healed the same hour.
So the question for us today is this: if we have not yet received the answer to our prayers, if our breakthrough has not come, do we have the kind of faith this man had?
Do we believe God can solve our problems, save our loved ones and heal our diseases?
Community, no matter what it looks like or how difficult it may seem, hold on to your faith. That is all we have. God is looking at our faith. It is the difference between receiving and not receiving. Our faith makes the difference.