Hebrews 11:1 is a little like a paradoxical riddle- but its profundity and promise provide comfort through uncertain times. Here is how it reads: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Seasons change, health changes, political leaders change, and circumstances change. We all know that there are limits to the things we can control in our lives and our world. Albert Einstein said, “The one thing we can count on is uncertainty.”
But leaving the story there creates a sense of bleakness, and I do not think we are intended to be mired only in an unknowningness of mystery and muddle. To live solely in that realm is like walking into an escape room when no one knows how to come out again.
Instead, this passage from Hebrews can be a comforting lullaby you would croon to a troubled child. Precisely because it contains a beautiful and hopeful word: faith. Faith, that can move mountains. Faith, through which we are saved. Faith, whereby we are healed.
My own faith has changed through the years and become more expansive than when I was a child. It no longer looks the same way as it once did, but it is a constant companion and has supported me through hard times. Uncertainty does not have the last word, even as we live with changes. Faith is enduring and reliable… something to which we can securely pin our hopes.
Image by Santiago Lacarta, Unsplash
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