The Substance of Faith

October 17

To those who don’t believe, faith is a foolhardy exercise in self delusion. To those who do not believe, having faith in God—in His goodness, His mercy, His love, His provision, His care for His creation, His salvation—is relegated to the same category as believing in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.

Yet, even the skeptic and the scoffer must acknowledge that there is a realm that suspends what can be perceived with the senses and taps into the unseen. It may not be readily discerned on a day-to-day or minute-to-minute basis, but it becomes evident frequently enough to give credence to its reality.

The medical doctor who has been treating a terminally ill patient, a physician who is a man of science not of faith, is confronted by the deliverance of his patient from the clutches of death by the intervention of God’s unseen hand. At this juncture in his life, the physician must acknowledge that there is a sphere beyond medicine where life and death situations are determined.

In Hebrews 11:1, it is stated thusly: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” The person of faith has spiritually “touched the hem of Jesus’ garment” (Luke 8:44) and knows in the depth of his being that the Lord’s healing virtue will deliver him. Whether his need is physical or spiritual or emotional or financial, the substance of faith is knowing it will be met.