Faith is defined by the Cambridge Online Dictionary as, “a high degree of trust or confidence in something or someone.”
“In Greek, the root word from which we get ‘faith, the noun is PISTIS, and ‘believe’, the verb is PISTUEO. FAITH means- belief, firm persuasion, assurance, firm conviction, faithfulness.”
“Faith is the connecting power into the spiritual realm, which links us with God and makes Him become a tangible reality to the sense perceptions of a person.”
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Hebrew_Roots/The_original_foundation/Faith
“a tangible reality to the sense perceptions…”
Tangible is described as a “thing perceptible by touch” – to touch God is the working power of faith. It is with faith we feel supernatural presence and know that we are held.
I often doubt – how about you? When I don’t feel or see God’s movement in my life, when the Divine feels far away, out of reach, when I feel confused, lost, hopeless, tired, ticked off, betrayed, left out, struggling to find meaning and purpose, weary of the same old, same old. I doubt! How about you?
I have believed that THIS – THIS DOUBT – is the opposite of FAITH.
It’s NOT!
Doubt is defined as “a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction.” Doubt is a normal, human emotion that comes and goes with us fickle, tossed creatures. We cannot measure our faith in our feelings. We have bad days, this is true and sometimes those bad days steal us away from the truth of
who we are,
where we are,
how we are,
what we are!
But I have learned that this thing called Doubt is NOT the opposite of Faith. It can challenge our faith, it can blurry our faith, it can distract us from our faith, but it is, in fact, not the opposite. It’s just uncertainty and to be uncertain positions us to ask some really good questions for us to wrestle with. It is in this place that our faith grows richer and deeper.
Who are you God?
Where are you God?
Are you with me God?
The wrestle is real and the wrestle transforms our faith if we dig deep and do the unearthing work! Heart soil sifted to reveal the limiting beliefs, the mind-altering distortions, and pus-filled wounds that still need healing balm from supernatural medicine cabinets.
Doubt is not the opposite – it is the “set up” for the MORE God has for each of us if we choose it!
No doubt is not the opposite…
SIGHT is!
Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Sight is the opposite of faith. It is what we see with our natural eye that robs and challenges us our “tangible reality to the sense perceptions.” When we focus on what we see on those not so good, faith lost days, we lose FAITH! Our eyes deceive us. Most of us have not been blessed with “spiritual eyes” to see into the invisible spaces. We can not see angels and demons warring for souls and destinies, we can not see Divine master plans unfolding for our good, we can not see the calculated millions of moves and moments that orchestrate the synchronicities of success, breakthroughs, births, revelations.
We cannot see! And when we cannot see, we lose our faith.
The opposite of faith is sight. I’m learning to keep my eyes on the prize. To remember and hold to promises, words spoken, and quiet moments between God and I that reassure and remind me of where I am going.
Our sight gets in the way of what we know in our hearts. What you see can sometimes discourage and distract you off the path. We can become soul lost in the journey led with our eyes.
LIFT YOUR EYES!
Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Don’t set your focus on what you SEE, remember what you have been told, remember the promises spoken over you, remember the truth about who you are and God’s plans for you, remember what your HEART knows to be true. Remember!!!
