Evidence. It’s what every fact, every decision, every conclusion is based on. Attorneys collect evidence to make their case before the judge and jury. Doctors collect evidence before they make a diagnosis.
In many instances a photograph can be the proof that something happened. Maybe a picture of you shaking hands with a famous person is something you can pull out to prove that you actually met that person. It provides evidence.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what faith really is. Is it just blindly believing something because someone told you it was true? I don’t think so. I think its more than that. I think it requires you to trust the person telling you. I also think it requires a decision on your part to believe the evidence.
There are instances in our lives where we have the evidence right in front of us and still choose to deny what we are seeing. There are other times when the evidence is something we can’t see, but have to choose to believe anyway.
Remember the old polaroid cameras? You stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon and someone took your picture. Then you all stood huddled together waiting for the photo to appear. What picture were you expecting? Would you have believed that the picture was one of you standing in front of Niagara Falls? Of course not. You KNEW where you were when the picture was taken and you absolutely knew what would soon develop right before your eyes.
Perhaps that’s how we should think about faith. Imagine for a moment, that issue you’ve been praying about. Imagine posing and having someone take a picture of what you believe God is going to do. Perhaps it’s of you reconciled with a loved one. Or maybe it’s you in the job you’ve been asking God for. It could be a family member who has been very ill looking the picture of health.
Hebrews 1:11 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Isn’t that what you were doing while you waited for that polaroid picture to develop? You were confident that the fully developed picture would be exactly what you expected it to be. Well, maybe not exactly. You might have hoped that your hair wouldn’t look THAT bad!
I believe God wants us to look with anticipation toward the things we have hoped for, just like we do with a photograph. Perhaps it won’t develop in seconds as you watch. Maybe you remember when you had to send off your film and wait a week to find out if the pictures even developed. God may make you wait. But He is as trustworthy at the end of the waiting whether it’s sixty seconds or twenty years, as He was at the beginning.
Today I challenge you to look in a fresh way at that issue you’ve been praying for. Take a spiritual snap shot of what you are believing God to do and then trust Him as that answered prayer develops.
Remember, seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing.