Day 2649 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

There are days when I sit down to write these posts and the words just seem so much harder to find. It's not that I can't think of something that I believe needs to be said or talked about, but things happen around us and seem to have this stopping power that makes us slow down and reconsider everything. Events unfold that seem so meaningless and painful and it's hard for our minds to find a grip on reality for a moment, let alone write out those thoughts and feelings. But still we try. We have to keep trying because hope is sometimes all we have.

The horrible fact of the matter is that our world is full of evil. Sin and darkness are in a million places and in a million different forms. Many of them go overlooked or unnoticed. But then something senseless happens that brings that harsh reality back to the forefront of our minds. Sin is often easy to ignore because acknowledging it requires us to admit our guilt. Admitting that there are so many things that are wrong requires us to admit that there's some higher standard to which we're using to evaluate right and wrong. Calling out the evil in the world demands that we also look at the prevalence of evil in our own lives.

That's one of the heavy burdens we undertake when we choose a life of faith. To seek out the wrongs in our hearts so that we can address them and no longer allow ourselves to run on the wrong side of right. And often times, that task is only that much harder when we are suddenly faced with these reminders that the amount of evil in our world is impossible to imagine. So we struggle. We've talked the past few days about some of the difficulties and hardships that we face in this transition into the unknowns of faith. And one of the biggest struggles is continuing to persevere when it seems that we're not making any ground.

The world is still broken. Things seem to be getting worse in many ways. All these prayers that we toss up seem to go unanswered as the evil and the hurting and downfall continues. It’s hard to keep having hope when it seems that nothing is moving in the right direction. It’s hard to keep believing when it seems that there is no end in sight. It’s hard to imagine that it will all be better one day when all that’s wrong is only growing more widespread. When all that we can see is so much darkness and sin and evil, then it’s easy to start wondering about the meaning or the purpose of our fight to stand against it.

So why do we keep trying? Why do we keep believing? Why do we continue holding tight to this hope that we profess? When the world around us is continuing its perpetual spiral into depravity and delusion, what keeps us going down this road that is harder than simply giving up and accepting defeat at the hands of the enemy that often seems to be overwhelming? Hope. Like I said up top, hope is often all we have left. And as hard and scary and impossible as life can sometimes feel, hope is also all we need.

Hope that things will be better one day. Hope that Jesus really is who He claims to be. Hope that one day all the hurting and sorrow and pain of this life will be but a distant memory that fades into oblivion. Hope that the evil that we're fighting to stand against will in fact meet its end when our Lord returns. Hope that there is a place where there is no more hurting or fear or doubt. Hope that our efforts to share good news and try to uplift those around us isn't in vain. Hope that this all really does matter.

The hard part is that faith doesn't bring us assurance. That's the very basis of faith. We can't see what lies ahead. We can't verify that these promises found in Scripture are actually there. We can't look into God's eyes and feel that confidence in knowing that He is real. We can't hold Jesus' hand when we're afraid or unsure. We can't reach out and touch the hem of His robe when we need healing from our pains or sorrow. We can’t show someone His photo and offer up concrete evidence of His existence. We can’t be sure that evil will be defeated someday. All we can do is hope and trust and believe.

That's yet again a massive difficulty when it comes to actually living a life of faith. People only trust what they can see. They only hope in something that they know is evident. But if you can see it or hold it or hear it or embrace it then what risk is there? Faith does bring with it this sense of risk. Risk that we may be wrong. Risk that it's all some fairy tale. Risk that we're doing all this talking and trying and praying and reading for nothing. Risk that everything we hope for falls through and leaves us with absolutely nothing.

But that's also why faith is so powerful. That's why God credited faith to Abraham as righteousness. Because He knows that we each have the option to choose to doubt. We have the option to choose to ignore His word and avoid His Bible and overlook His calling to repentance and refuse to believe in His existence. So when we choose to have faith, to believe, to trust in Him then we're risking it all on Him being there and His word being true and His promises being fulfilled.

None of it is easy. It's even harder when nothing makes sense and the world around us seems yet one step further away from the promised land that we're hoping and praying to reach one day. But as hard as it may be, the fact remains that hope and faith are enough. They're enough to keep us going when life is painful. They're enough to lift us up when the world has knocked us down. They're enough to forgive our sins and push us to try harder. They're enough to lean on when we've got nothing left. They're enough to keep fighting the good fight, even when it seems like we're losing bad.

Friends, we don't know for certain what lies ahead. We don't know exactly when our Savior is coming back to put an end to all this darkness and difficulty. We don't know far more than we care to admit. But as I've said in the last couple of posts, we don't have to know. We don't have to have guarantees or the comfort of a risk-free kind of faith. We need to learn to lean on that feeling deep in our hearts that it's all pointing to something better. We need to learn to have confidence in what we can't yet see. We need to be assured that our faith means something and that our hope is never in vain.

Nothing about the road ahead is going to be easy. And as our world continues to show us, the devil is very much alive and flourishing in this place and in the hearts and minds of many. But it's in these moments of uncertainty and despair that we find the true value of our faith. We learn that we can never be close enough to Christ. We learn that we really can't do it alone but that we can trust in the One who is always there to help. We may not be able to physically touch Him or hear His voice or see the place that He's gone to prepare. But we can have hope. We can trust in the unknown. We can be confident that there is something better that is worth fighting for.

Doesn't mean that it’ll be easy or quick or painless. But if we can find the courage to put our trust in the unknown and have faith in that which we cannot see, then we can also believe that Jesus knows that we’re willing to risk it all on Him being there and being who He says He is. He won’t take that lightly. It may be scary, but that with the most risk also brings the most reward!

#LeaveNoSoulUntold