In "Other" Words - Tuesdays at CWO

faith [feyth]
–noun

1. confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.

2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.

3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.

4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.

5. a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.

6. the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith.

7. the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.: He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.

8. Christian Theology. The trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.

9. often Faith Christianity The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.

Faith is hard to hold on to during the times when no answers come, even though you've prayed and asked and cried out to God for direction. I know from experience. In fact it's something that I am going through right now in my personal life. It's hard to hold on to the faith sometimes when things are going wrong and you don't understand why, when you can't find a moment that would warrant what seems to be Divine punishment or Divine silence. It's difficult to understand why God tests us, tests our faith, brings us to the direst of circumstances and heartaches in order to prove our faith genuine. Job didn't understand either but in the midst of his trials and sorrows, he still praised God. He still believed, still had faith. It's so easy for us to trust God and have that faith when the times are good. Not so easy when it's not going so good. Not so easy when there are more questions, unanswered, than answers.

What we do not see is that God tempers us, forms us, takes us through the fire and the forge to make us stronger, to teach us to lean on Him and trust Him even when there are no answers. What may seem like a dead end, or rock bottom in our lives is God preparing us for bigger and better things and blessings – He is improving our character so that we can boast on Him and not ourselves. He is teaching us that faith, true faith, is obeying, waiting, believing and trusting, even when we don't feel like it. Even when we don't understand. It's never easy to trust in the difficult times when we don't know why we are getting hit left and right. Even when we feel like we are all alone, that we can't bear anymore burdens, anymore tears, anymore pain, anymore sense of helplessness, God has promised us that He will never leave us nor will He ever forsake us.

God is unknowable. We see and experience His blessings that He gives to us and we also feel His punishments when we go astray. We can know the character of God, but until we are called Home and are no longer bound by the realm of mortal understanding, we will not be able to understand the true essence of God. All that is left for us to do in the tough times is keep that faith that God is in control and knows what He is doing, believe that He will never give us second best and keep on keeping on until He brings us to that place of understanding and we will finally say "I get it now! I understand."

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1