Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. –ESV 

This chapter in Hebrews is notorious. It has many graphic illustrations of faith–practiced by those of whom the world was not worthy. I recommend reading the whole chapter if you want a deeper faith. But in this post I would like to explore this one verse. And share a simple illustration for those who may be struggling to understand faith at all.

When I leave the house in the morning to go to work, I go through my garage where I put on my shoes and head on out. I do not turn on the lights in the garage. This is because there is no way to turn them back off once I am outside. The only switch is in the kitchen. Instead, I rely on the motion-sensing light. It turns on as I enter and turns off automatically after I leave. 

It struck me one time as I ventured out into the darkness for a few steps before the light came on, that I was practicing a very simple and rudimentary example of faith. Now granted, if the light failed to come on, the consequences would not be very dire, but it serves as an illustration.

How many times do we find ourselves at a standstill simply because we came to the end of where God’s illumination is reaching? And what if the reason His illumination is not reaching further is simply because He wants to put us on a new path—on a new level and wants us to use faith in getting there? 

We stand about so many times shuffling our feet and disparaging the darkness ahead of us. But if we take a few steps in the direction we know we should be going, the light soon appears. However, those steps are necessary. Faith without works is dead. If we truly believe something, it will inspire us to action. 

For example, I believe without doubting that the light will flicker on in my garage if I just step out and expose my movements. If this was not the case, I would either not go through the garage or I would take other precautions to make sure I have light to see by. 

At the end of various seasons in life, we may wish to loiter a while. But let’s not do so any longer than what God intends. Instead, let’s be assured of the things we hope for and convicted of the things we don’t see yet. And armed with this faith, we can step onto a dim path, knowing the light will come in His timing. 

The more we do this and the more we find Him faithful, the more our faith grows. The walk we have in this life is entirely by faith. Let’s embrace it!