Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
I love the above verse. Faith. What does it mean to have faith? What is faith? Faith and trust go hand in hand. To have Faith you must also trust. Do you have faith in God? Do you trust God? There is so much evidence in the Bible for having faith and trust in God. In my own life, I have seen evidence to trust and have faith in God. Sometimes I slip and need reminded. It doesn't take much from God to remind me He is Sovereign. He is Lord. He has a plan and God will work everything out for the best and for His glory.
Sometimes having faith is hard. Our faith gets tested. Difficult circumstances come our way. Trials of all sorts come along as we go through this life. We lose a job, money gets tight, we have a health issue, we have a car accident, a relationship falls apart, you lose a loved one, or any number of countless things that happen. Life is full of trials. We need to be thankful for the trials as they are meant to lead us closer to God. To trust God. To have faith in God. I look back on things that have happened in the last few years for my husband and I and see how God has worked. Sometimes we took a leap of faith, sometimes things were hard for a while, but God always proved He was there taking care of us. Working out His plan for us.
There is a quote from a movie I watched quite a while ago that has stuck with me. The movie was "Love Comes Softly" and was based on the old west when pioneers were gradually moving west and settling in various places building their lives. In the movie the main character lost her husband and she was pregnant with her first child. She married a man who had a young daughter so they could help each other through the winter. She would have a place to stay and she would be like a mother to the young daughter. During one scene when the woman was distraught and unsure where she was headed she had a conversation with the man on a hill and he said these words to her "The truth of God's love is not that He allows bad things to happen. It's His promise that He'll be there with us when they do". I have always loved this thought.
We need to hold onto God's promises. We need to have faith that God's word is true and He will take care of us. God has a plan for us. God loves each and every one of us so much He became flesh, lived among us, and died for us. He didn't deserve to die for us, but He did all of it out of love. All he asks is that we have faith in Him, His truth, follow His word, and He will win and everything will work out just as He planned. Have faith.