In Part One, we looked at how uncertain life can be when we have feelings that go all over the place and we don’t have a solid foundation to live by. We looked at how faith is the foundation we need and what God has to say about faith. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that, though faith may be invisible, when we know God, who is the object of our faith, our foundation can be as strong and visible as a sturdy chair. As we get to know God, through His son, Jesus Christ, we may find His true character to be quite different than what we were taught growing up. We noted that, since knowing Him is the key to trusting Him (our foundation of faith), it is imperative that we get to know Him well. Then we will find it easier to trust Him.
There is a simple test we can use to help us understand how well we know God. If walking by faith means “saying or standing on what God says – no matter what,” we can quickly determine how well we know Him by how well we are trusting. If we know Him, we will trust. If we are not trusting (in a given area), then we don’t know Him well enough there in that area. Learning to trust our invisible foundation is easier in some areas than others. In the difficult areas we will need help and support from others who do know Him there. In my journey, finances were one of the areas in which I had to learn to trust God.
When I was rearing my family (four kids), my husband and I lived by faith financially as we worked in full-time ministry. This meant that our monthly income was in that invisible realm. Instead of a paycheck, our income was based on what we received from supporters, and most of the time through the years our income was rather limited. Not having a steady income forced and encouraged me to trust God when we had visible needs such as milk, clothes or repairs.
Early in this adventure of turning the invisible to visible, God provided a car, as a gift from a friend. My husband was driving the car when a young teenager plowed into the back of it. The car was drivable but considered totaled by the insurance companies. The insurance company gave us the choice of keeping the car with a settlement of $800 or we could give up the car for a settlement of $900. We kept and drove the car for several more months before passing it on to another family who drove it for years. A totaled car became a visible blessing in God’s hands.
During those years that stretched my faith, the invisible became visible over and over as God provided groceries, clothing, ministry trips, appliances for our house, a roof, a remodeled basement, two more free cars and money for kids’ braces and college. (You can read more about God’s faithfulness in my book, Jesus Never Fails.) Though it was very difficult at times to believe that “Faith is substance,” going through it taught me to know God, and now I am able to encourage others in how loving, caring and trustworthy He is.
Though life is full of uncertainty, there is one foundation upon which we can rely: “Jesus is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”
