Over the past thirteen years, my understanding of faith has undergone a profound transformation, one that has fundamentally reshaped how I navigate life, interpret Scripture, and encounter the sacred in my everyday reality. What began as a nebulous concept has crystallized into something far more substantive: a living, breathing confidence that anchors my soul even when circumstances seem to demand otherwise.
For much of my life, I wrestled with a fundamental tension. The world seemed to define faith as a blind leap, a desperate hope against evidence, a grasping wish divorced from reason. Yet Scripture communicates something radically different: faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. This paradox haunted me. How could something appearing so uncertain become the very foundation of certainty? Either the world had misunderstood faith, or the Bible was profoundly mistaken. Through study, prayer, and lived experience, I discovered the answer lay not in choosing between them, but in recognizing how deeply the world had obscured faith’s true nature.
My journey led me to discover that Scripture reveals faith through two interconnected dimensions, each one essential, each one transformative.
First, faith is confidence in what we hope for. This is not mere wishful thinking, but rather a firm persuasion and expectation that God will fulfill all He has promised us in Christ. Through thirteen years of walking with God, I have experienced how this persuasion becomes so alive, so real within the soul, that it grants us a kind of present possession of future promises. It is as though the previews of God’s faithfulness become tangible, giving believers an unspeakable joy and glory even before the fullness arrives. This is where hope and faith intertwine: hope becomes the absolute confidence that every thread of our lives, the painful, the confusing, the seemingly random, will ultimately weave into a coherent and purposeful tapestry.
Second, faith is assurance about what we do not see. Over these thirteen years, I have learned that faith serves as an eye for the soul, revealing spiritual realities that physical sight cannot access. It is the firm acceptance of God’s revelation in its entirety, setting God’s seal upon the human heart and declaring: He is true. Faith is a complete approval of all God has revealed, His holiness, His justice, His goodness. It functions as the believer’s sight, becoming to the soul what the physical senses are to the body. Without it, we are spiritually blind. With it, we perceive a reality far more enduring than the temporary world around us.
Perhaps the greatest wisdom gained through these thirteen years came through a simple but revolutionary inversion of perspective. In the physical realm, we demand proof, evidence, and visible confirmation before we grant our acceptance. But the spiritual realm operates according to an entirely different principle: “I’ll see it when I believe it.” This realization transformed everything.
Throughout Scripture, many men and women believed first and then witnessed God at work in their lives. Their faith did not follow their sight; their sight followed their faith. Here are a few of those men and women:
Men:
- Abraham: Known as the “father of faith,” he trusted God’s promise even when asked to sacrifice his son Isaac.
- Moses: Led the Israelites out of Egypt, relying on God’s guidance through plagues, the Red Sea, and the wilderness.
- Daniel: Maintained his devotion to God despite threats, surviving the lions’ den through steadfast prayer.
- Joseph: Endured betrayal, slavery, and imprisonment, yet remained faithful and was elevated to power in Egypt.
- David: A man after God’s own heart, he showed faith in facing Goliath and repented deeply when he sinned.
Women:
- Esther: Risked her life to save her people, declaring, “If I perish, I perish” as she approached the king.
- Ruth: Showed loyalty and faith by staying with Naomi and embracing the God of Israel.
- Hannah: Prayed fervently for a child and dedicated her son, Samuel, to God’s service.
- Mary (mother of Jesus): Accepted God’s plan with humility, saying, “Let it be to me according to your word.”
- Deborah: A prophetess and judge who led Israel with wisdom and courage during a time of oppression.
This has been my experience as well. Each time I have stepped forward in faith, trusting God’s promises despite the absence of visible confirmation, He has revealed His work and faithfulness in ways I could never have manufactured through my own effort or foresight.
The Cost and the Calling
Yet I must speak with honesty: thirteen years of deepening faith have taught me that living with genuine faith does not promise an easy life. In fact, the opposite proves true, particularly when one boldly declares allegiance to Jesus Christ and His gospel.
To announce that Jesus is the Christ, that He died for our sins and rose again on the third day, is to step into tension with a world that rejects these claims. To put one’s faith in Jesus is to repent of sin, believe His gospel, and follow Him. This is not a comfortable Christianity, a faith domesticated for social acceptance. This is a radical reorientation of one’s entire existence toward Christ. I have come to understand that faith demands everything and promises everything, but rarely does it promise comfort or ease in the conventional sense.
Among those honored in Scripture’s “Hall of Faith” stands Polycarp, an early Christian martyr. His life and death exemplify what faith looks like when it meets its ultimate testing. Before his martyrdom, he prayed:
“Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of you, I bless you that you have counted me worthy of this day and hour, that I might be in the number of the martyrs. Among these may I be received before you today in a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as you have beforehand prepared and revealed. Wherefore I also praise you for everything; I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal High Priest Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom, with him, in the Holy Spirit, be glory unto you both now and for the ages to come. Amen.”
Reflecting on these words in their context, I discovered a faith so profound, so unshaken by the prospect of death, that it fundamentally challenged my own understanding of what is possible for a human soul. Here was a man not begging for rescue but thanking God for the privilege of ultimate sacrifice. This is faith that transcends our modern categories of success and failure, survival and loss. It reminds me of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, one of the most profound moments of faith and surrender in all of Scripture. As He faced the agony of the cross, He prayed: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
The True Measure of a Life
I have learned that faith may not grant us longevity on this earth, but it offers something far more valuable: a powerful life, a persuasive life, a heroic life precisely in an age when true heroism has become scarce.
When you can live with faith, hope, and love, when you can face uncertainty and even death without fear, then you have discovered what it means to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. This is the promise and the reality that Ephesians 4:1 points toward, a calling that transcends circumstance and speaks to the deepest part of what it means to be human.
My faith is not an escape from reality but an encounter with it at its deepest level. It is the recognition that God is real, His promises are certain, and His faithfulness endures when all else crumbles. This is the testimony my life has become, not perfected, but increasingly aligned with this truth.
MindWolves 