“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1
When you purchase a home and pay in full, you receive a title deed. That title proves that you are the owner of that home. It shows that you have done everything necessary and legally to acquire the house. If someone tried to dispute it, you have the title deed as your proof that the home belongs to you. The same is true with a car. If you purchase a car and pay in full, you will receive a title from the agency or person where you purchased it. It is undeniable proof that the car is yours.
This same principle applies to our faith. Faith is in essence our title deed; it is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Our faith is our evidence that the promises of God belong to us. If you have prayed to God concerning your finances or your health, or anything else according to His promises, then your faith is proof that it is already done. Jesus says in John 14:14: “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”
It is important to note that hope and faith are different but are both necessary in our life as a believer. Bible hope is not wishing that something will happen. You may have heard someone say: “Oh, I sure hope I get that job. I hope we can have enough money to go on that vacation.” That is not hope. It is just wishing. There is no confidence in it. In their mind it has just as much chance of not happening. The hope spoken of in the bible is a confident expectation of a better future. Bible hope is confidence that what you have prayed for will eventually come to pass. Hope is always future tense. However, faith is present tense; faith is now. Faith is believing that what you have prayed for is already done. It is our evidence that we have what we are hoping for right now. It has substance to it.
Romans 4 is a great example of bible hope and faith in action. “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised he was able also to perform.” Romans 4:17-21
Let us be like the Father of our faith, Abraham and believe in God’s promises for our lives more than what we can see. Let faith be the title deed to the promises of God in your life! If someone questions how you will have those things God has promised when all the circumstances look contrary, then simply pull out your title deed – your faith. Let your faith be the evidence. Hold that title deed in your heart and praise and thank God lavishly for the victory, and it will surely come to pass!
Further reading: Mark 11:22-25, Hebrews 11:1-35, 2 Chronicles 20, Ephesians 1:17-23
