Believing Before Seeing

"The land which I do give them, even the children of Israel" (Joshua 1:2).

God here speaks in the immediate present. It is not something He is going to do, but something He does do, this moment. So faith ever speaks. So God ever gives. So He is meeting you today, in the present moment. This is the test of faith. So long as you are waiting for a thing, hoping for it, looking for it, you are not believing. It may be hope, it may be earnest desire, but it is not faith; for "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The command in regard to believing prayer is the present tense. "When ye pray, believe that ye receive the things that ye desire, and ye shall have them." Have we come to that moment? Have we met God in His everlasting NOW?  --Joshua, by Simpson

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True faith counts on God, and believes before it sees. Naturally, we want some evidence that our petition is granted before we believe; but when we walk by faith we need no other evidence than God's Word. He has spoken, and according to our faith it shall be done unto us. We shall see because we have believed, and this faith sustains us in the most trying places, when everything around us seems to contradict God's Word.

The Psalmist says, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living" (Ps. 27:13). He did not see as yet the Lord's answer to his prayers, but he believed to see; and this kept him from fainting.

If we have the faith that believes to see, it will keep us from growing discouraged. We shall "laugh at impossibilities," we shall watch with delight to see how God is going to open up a path through the Red Sea when there is no human way out of our difficulty. It is just in such places of severe testing that our faith grows and strengthens.

Have you been waiting upon God, dear troubled one, during long nights and weary days, and have feared that you were forgotten? Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on its way to you.  --Life of Praise

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True faith does not consider circumstances. It does measure the tides or ponder the risks. Faith that is authentically faith does not rely on pragmatic or empirical evidence for substantiation of what it believes. True faith does not compromise its position and stance for the sake of comfort in reason. Rationale cannot wrestle away the hope that is substantiated through faith.

Faith stands alone, girded by the promises of God. Faith believes before it sees and when what it sees is diametrically opposed to what it believes, it believes still. Faith dares to laugh at the impossible and boasts an undefeated record against adversity. Faith calls those things that are not as though they were, believing what it expects has already been done.

Dr. Rick Wallace

The possessor of genuine faith is not concerned with putting God on the spot; instead they reach and believe with an audacity that transcends commonality and eclipses mediocrity to experience the supernatural. The one that has become acquainted with authentic faith, does not waver at delay and is not daunted by darkness. Faith speaks to its possessor, all things are possible, when you believe.

God responds to faith. Put your faith to work and lay hold to all that God desires for you. Faith cannot override the will of God, but in the will of God it is unstoppable. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace