Frédéric Emane – Believe without having seen

If I had to define faith in a simple way, I would say this: “faith is believing without having seen”.

In our everyday lives and in our Christian jargon, we often use the term “faith”. Moreover, several secular expressions exist for this purpose, such as “being in good faith”. However, it is not always easy to give a precise definition. The exercise to which I propose to undergo is that of trying to provide a definition of “faith”. In this text, I will focus on one aspect of faith.

So, if I had to define faith in a simple way, I would say this: “faith is believing without having seen”. Indeed, several texts in the Bible seem to contradict Man’s ability to see and faith.

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

This text is one of the most popular and is a kind of definition of faith. You will notice that in this definition, there is no notion of God, nor of Jesus. Faith is dissociated from all religion, although it is God who created it.

We also notice that one of the ideas that emerges from this definition is that faith is believing in what we do not see. There is also talk of ‘demonstration’. But the demonstration is concrete, and not abstract. This term ‘demonstration’ could therefore be replaced by ‘concretization’ or ‘realization’. Ultimately, faith is the realization of things that we do not see, but in which we firmly believe.

On this subject, another text draws my attention in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; the apostle Paul says: “We walk by faith and not by sight”. In this expression, it seems that he puts faith and sight in opposition. Our reality sometimes seems to go against God’s promises to us. It seems that we cannot grow in our faith if we cling to what our eyes see. To walk by faith, it seems, we must not rely on our sight. If we base our faith on our physical world, we risk being wrong.

Because in fact, there is often a mismatch between the divine promise in our life and what we experience day to day. God says ‘I have formed plans for you of peace and not of misfortune’ however, many people today are hit by unemployment, some are on RSA, on minimum wage and cannot make ends meet. the end of the month. So we ask ourselves ‘where is this plan of peace and happiness’? The Bible says that ‘by his stripes we are healed’ but many believers suffer from illnesses, sometimes so-called incurable illnesses. When we go to see the doctors, the diagnoses are sometimes frightening. People may have prophesied about your life saying that you will be a successful entrepreneur, but today you cannot even meet your basic needs. But in all this the apostle Paul says ‘We do not walk by sight, but by faith’.

It is not the circumstances of life that determine what you will be tomorrow, nor your destiny, but it is what God says about you. I may go through difficult times, but I know one thing, and that is that ultimately, it is the Word of God that will be fulfilled in my life, if I believe persistently.

To illustrate believing without seeing, we can also relate to our direct relationship with our Lord. Indeed, most Christians today have never met or seen Jesus, yet we believe in Him.
We have not seen Jesus rise from the dead, and we believe He is.
We did not see Jesus perform the miracles that are described in the Bible and yet we are convinced that it is the truth. This is also ‘believing without having seen.’
We also believe in ‘heaven’ without having seen it. We have not seen Moses, nor the tables of the law, and we believe that God has given his commandments.

Finally, I want to encourage everyone who reads these few words. Even if you have not yet seen the promises and goodness of God fulfilled in your life, keep the faith, for it will certainly be accomplished.

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