Faith > Doubt
Hebrews 11:6
“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6 NLT
When I pick a topic for my Heaven On Wheels devotionals, I leave it up to God. Yes, I use a random number generator to pick a number between 1 and 16, which corresponds to a particular category in the Bible — love, patience, jealousy, and so on. Today God pointed me toward a topic that all of us in our secular and religious lives have struggled with — doubt.
When I was not a believer, I struggled with the question “Is there a God?” Sure, I professed at the time to know without any uncertainty that God didn’t exist… but that didn’t keep me from waking up in the wee, small hours of the morning wondering if I was going to burn for eternity in that Hell I didn’t believe in.
Doubt is erased by faith, and as the writer to the Hebrews pointed out in today’s verse, “it is impossible to please God without faith”. But what is faith? One very good definition I found was “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. That’s as good a definition as any. As Christians, we all hope for that day when we will meet face to face with our Creator in His New Earth.
This verse arrives just before the writer uses Noah as an example of a man with perfect faith. Noah believed God, he trusted God, he followed God’s commands, and as a result, he pleased God. Noah not only believed that God exists, but he was rewarded by God by being one of only eight humans to survive the deluge.
Your homework for today is to answer two questions:
Do you believe in God?
Do you believe that God rewards those who sincerely seek Him?
If your answer to those questions is a “No” or “I don’t know for sure”, then it’s time for you to examine your faith. Don’t worry — it happens to all of us occasionally! Sometimes when things are really going bad for you or a loved one, you may feel that the answer to the second question is “I’m not sure…” True faith answers, “Yes, God exists, and I know that even though things are horrible right now, He will reward my faith!”
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I seek to see Your glorious face in person some day. I sometimes feel like the worst sinner in Your universe, but I know without a doubt that you are faithful and forgiving. I will continue to pursue You each day, studying Your Word and worshiping You in my every action. I seek You with faith, and want to be closer to You. AMEN.