“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). This isn’t just intellectual assent to God’s existence – it’s a deep conviction that shapes our actions.

Everyone lives by faith, whether they realize it or not. When I first traveled to Africa in 1992, I had never been there before, but I believed it existed. I presented my ticket and boarded the plane, trusting it would take me to my destination. My faith became sight when I touched down at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya. We exercise this kind of practical faith daily – working jobs before receiving payment, buying groceries without seeing their contents, sitting in chairs without testing their strength first.

But there’s a profound difference between everyday “faith” and transformative faith in God. The writer of Hebrews tells us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). This isn’t blind optimism or wishful thinking – it’s a concrete reality that shapes how we live.

Faith That Sees Reality

True faith gives substance to our hopes and makes unseen realities feel tangible. Though we cannot physically see God, heaven, Jesus, or the choirs of angels, faith compels us to act as if we’ve witnessed them with our own eyes. I saw this kind of faith embodied in my friend Agnes, a dear disciple of Jesus. In her final hours on earth at Kitwe Central Hospital, her unwavering confidence in God’s existence and goodness showed everyone at her bedside what genuine faith looks like. She didn’t just believe in heaven – she lived as though it were as real as the hospital beds surrounding her.

Faith That Testifies

Genuine faith bears witness to what we believe, both in life and in death. I’m reminded of the story of the death of Louise Grings Champlin’s mother deep in the jungles of the Congo. The community in the village to whom Herbert Grings had been preaching the gospel watched as the missionary and his little children stood around a freshly dug grave of their wife and mother, singing praises to Jesus. The people came after the burial and said, “We knew Jesus was good enough for living, now we know He is good enough for dying!” Their testimony was so powerful that six men accepted Christ as their Savior after witnessing their faith.

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