What Does It Take to Change the World? Faith.

What is faith?

In Hebrews 11:1, we read,

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (KJV).

Faith is believing in invisible things. 

Some people say things like, “I believe in facts, not fiction. You must see something to believe in it. Faith is for fools.”

My reply to them goes something like this: 

“You use faith all the time. What about the last time you walked into a restaurant and ordered a meal? Or how about when you went to that doctor for a diagnosis? And then there was that time you got on board a Boeing 747 and buckled yourself in. You use faith every day. You put your faith in servers and chefs, doctors and pilots.”

Every one of us puts our faith in something. What I love about Hebrews 11 is that it tells the stories of men and women who served the Lord in their own generations and, in real ways — great and small — changed their world by faith.

While I encourage you to read the chapter for yourself, here are two important lessons we can learn from the heroes of the faith:

Faith takes action.

Faith doesn’t live in the realm of theory.  It is not found in flowery posts of sunsets on Instagram or Pinterest. Faith lives in the real world, the world of activity. It rolls up its sleeves and does things. 

Picture a non-Christian friend or family member in your mind, someone you couldn’t imagine turning to the Lord in a 100 years. If you try to imagine that individual holding a Bible or talking about Jesus, the picture seems almost laughable.

It could happen. Nobody in the first century would have laid odds on the close-minded Christian-killer named Saul of Tarsus becoming a missionary and a church planter. But that’s what happened. God can transform any heart. Do you believe that? Then act on it. 

Look at the state of America right now, with all its problems, divisions, and moral breakdown. Sometimes it’s enough to make me want to wring my hands and say, “Oh no, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what to do.” When I look at this country through the eyes of faith, I say to myself, “God could change this. God could send a mighty spiritual awakening to our land.” And I start praying for that.

That is faith.  Faith says, “Let’s just see what the Lord will do.” 

But if you sit around in your safe zone and never venture out, trusting in the Lord, you can be very sure of the result.

Nothing will happen at all.

Faith can make the difference in our circumstances.

Faith can make the difference between something happening or not happening, between receiving or not receiving what God has for us. Even faith the size of a tiny mustard seed can open the door to mighty works right in the middle of your situation, no matter how messy it might be.

You might say, “That sounds nice, but those things could never happen to me. God would never do that for me.” But if you begin to seek the Lord with all your heart, asking for the impossible and believing in the power and love of God to grant it, your situation might be completely different. 

Remember: faith enables you to be a world changer..

You say, “What do you mean, me?” There is a place you can insert yourself into Hebrews 11:

“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (verse 3).

Who is the “we” in this verse?

It’s you and me. The first space for a world changer, for this incredible, enduring roster of faithful saints is inclusive and you are invited to add your name. When we talk about faith, we’re not talking about some random power in the universe that anyone with determination can tap into. Many fairy tales and Disney movies promote the idea of wishing upon a star or believing in yourself in order to make your dreams come true. Some might translate this to: “Just have faith and life will get better.”

I’m not talking about having faith in faith here; I’m talking about having faith in God. You and I can look at our world and see huge, seemingly impossible problems in front of us. But with faith we can see solutions because we have an all-wise, all-powerful God who can accomplish anything. The men and women of Hebrews 11 understood this, and they changed the world.

And as we follow in their footsteps, by God’s grace and in his strength, we can be world changers, too.

Copyright © 2020 Greg Laurie. Used with permission.