A Substance Abuse Problem

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Breaking down the scripture further let's define a few words.  Faith means complete trust or confidence and a strong belief in God based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.  Substance means the real physical matter of which a person or a thing consists.  Evidence is the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief is true; proof, confirmation, verification.

I offer that many of us have a substance abuse problem.  We think we understand the meaning of the word substance when we read the scripture.  But in fact what we have been taught and what we understand substance to be is something tactile.  It's something we can touch or experience with our natural senses and so as a result we are looking for something tangible to anchor our faith in.  So oftentimes what happens to us is we pray and we wait for a sign.  We tell God what we want and then we go wait by the chimney for Santa to deliver our gifts or we give God our laundry list of desires and then we see answers in superstion and whatever will satisfy our own mind that we've heard from the Lord.  But in fact the definition of the word substance that we have known our entire lives is not what faith is.  Faith is not physical nor is it a thing that can be exprerienced by our touch, hearing, sight, taste or smell.  The Greek word used in the verse above is "hupostasis."  The meaning of it is a firm foundation.  So in fact our faith is not based in the power wishful or positive thinking.  It isn't in our thinking at all.  Our faith is connected to our heart and it is a knowing that God did it before; therefore, He WILL do it again.  It is a knowing that we experience in our spirit.  We can encourage our mind by reading the Word and hiding the Word in our hearts, but what we cannot do is substitute the firm foundation of what our heart knows about our God for a flimsy, phoney, or flighty physical manifestation.  The faith is the revelation that God's Word is yea and amen.  Faith is the firm foundation of our hopes and it is the confirmation, verification and the proof of our beliefs.

Today let us renouce our substance abuse problem and let us elect to open our hearts and let faith find it's true resting place in the peace of trusting that God is real, He is not a man that He should lie.  What He says He will complete and perform.  His Word will not return unto Him void.  As the older generation used to say, God said, I believe it and that settles it!