I had an interesting discussion with a brilliant brother the other day, who explained to me the definition of hope and the difference between hope and faith.
Hebrews 11:1
"Now, we know that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. "
Faith is knowledge based on your utmost belief in and personal knowledge of God, rather than direct physical evidence collected from your five senses (seen, touched, smelled, tasted, heard).
(Rather than believing in what you have seen, you choose to believe in what God has said.)
But, what is hope, this friend asked? He explored this question through the Scriptures and found that hope is the halfway point between belief and unbelief. You don't know for sure that something will work out, but you also don't not believe either. Thus, you hope.
This brotha gave an example of the difference between faith and hope by pointing to the Biblical account of Peter, a disciple of Christ, who saw Jesus walking on water one day.
Matthew 14: 22-36
Peter said, "if that is really you, Jesus, let me walk on water with you." At that point, he had faith -- knowledge that Jesus could also him to do what is not humanly possible, to achieve a miracle! With faith, Peter stepped out on the water and began to walk. But, soon after he was out there, the wind began to blow pretty hard, Peter looked away from Jesus to look toward the rising waves and doubt began to creep in. Immediately, his thoughts shifted from certainty to that halfway point between belief and unbelief and Peter began to sink. Here, we see a clear example of hope. Peter hoped that he could continue walking on the water, but he didn't know for sure.
What did Peter do after he began to sink? Peter looked back at Jesus and cried out, Lord save me! He again looked to Jesus and with that request, he KNEW that Jesus would keep him from sinking. Peter's hope shifted back to faith.
My friend said that after he studied the difference between faith and hope, he made a decision that he would no longer hope. He would just stop hoping and walk in faith alone. I myself often hope. I wonder what it would mean for me to choose to only walk in faith.
My prayer: Lord, you can reveal to me what difference this would make in my own life and help me to make the transition, if necessary.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
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1 comment:
I like this! from the Hebrews passage we see that Faith *includes* hope, e.g. it is the substance of things hoped for. So it is not hope itself, faith goes beyond hope.
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