{FAITH OVER FEAR} Things Not Seen

{Today, I want to welcome my dear friend Hilary Harris, from Hil’s Kitchen Blog. We stood with Hilary in prayer as her daughter fought for her life. At the same time that was happening, I was writing the message Faith Over Fear. I can recall the truths of His word inflaming my prayers as I prayed for the three of them during that time. You will love her authenticity and humor as she takes you on an unforgettable journey of trusting God when we can see! Please show her a lot of love by commenting below!} 

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January 14^th through February 11^th of this year my family and I walked through the most desperate time of our lives as our 3 day old daughter spent 28 days in the ICU for a condition that had doctors puzzled.

Our daughter’s ICU stay required test upon test, including a spinal tap, blood transfusion, EEG scan, MRI scan, 100 + heel pricks, feeding tube, continuous IV’s, reports of irreversible conditions, brain damage, and 4 different medications 6 times a day.

We prayed desperate prayers. We used fancy vernacular (You know you’re desperate when you pull out, “Jesus, son of David” on a random weekday). We fasted. We read the Word over our daughter. And most days we saw absolutely no progress.

It brought about some very real moments and questions between the Lord and us. Questions like “Where are you God?”, “Do you love me?”, “Why aren’t you stepping in?”, and “Are you even real?”

Admitting to you all that those questions ran through my brain is humbling and scary as my husband and I are pastors at our church. We aren’t supposed to wonder about God! We’re supposed to be constantly speaking in tongues and raising people from the dead, right!?

It wasn’t until the end of our journey that I realized something about my “faith” that I had never realized before. It’s found in the famous verse we all know and love:

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

Faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things NOT seen. Meaning this: When you are truly exercising faith in a situation, you can’t see the result you are believing for! You can only hope for it! It is NOT seen!

Faith is not rejoicing in what you SEE, it’s believing even though you can’t! Once you see it in the natural it no longer requires faith.

With that in mind, I realized that all my life I liked the idea of faith, but was not a huge fan of the actual application. I was really good at having faith when I could see the promise on the horizon, or when I could feel the answer coming, not as much when there was no end in sight, and I felt completely mentally and emotionally suffocated.

My walk with the Lord was reduced to a very elementary question: Will you serve Him always, even when you don’t “see”? Or will you run away and pout like a child when you do not get what you want? Ouch.

I understand my pain was real, my frustration was valid and my fight was tiresome, but the essence of the situation came down to that simple thought. Do you serve the Lord with all your heart, or only when it suits you?

Do you run like a spoiled child who doesn’t get what they want when they want it, or do you relentlessly fight for a reward you may never physically see and join the ranks of the greatest Saints of old mentioned in Hebrews 11 who died never seeing the promise and did it all “by faith”?

It’s probably important to note that our family now stands in a place of healing and victory. God has done a GREAT thing. But that is not the story that everyone needs to hear.

Somewhere in the dark places there are women and men of “faith” that are questioning their Maker. They’re on the edge of belief. They’re wondering “Oh God, why?” They are like I was, dare I say, questioning their faith.

It’s to those people that I would like our story to reach. To let them know that God is for you. Always.

And the bottom line is God is good. So very good. But since the days of Adam, this world is fallen. And this life is filled with bad. But that never ever changes that HE is good. In the midst of pain, sickness, and rebellion, there is a God who is weeping for you, who would give everything for you, fighting with you, not standing idly by testing you.

And even though that is the TRUTH, because of this fallen humanity, you may not currently see or feel what you’re hoping for. But that is the most opportune time to press through the darkness. The time to pull up the bootstraps, to weep uncontrollably to your God who sees your every hurt, question, and need, and declare, “I can’t see it, but I will serve you”.

For me, THAT has become the definition of faith.