Hebrews 11:1

About a month ago I was watching tv.  And I gotta tell ya, I was amazed by one commercial I saw.

I forget which camera it was advertising, but I distinctly remember the commercial saying you would see the results before you took the picture.  And that's just counter intuitive to my brain. 

Besides publicly admitting I'm not sure how the science of all that works (how can you show an image if it hasn't been captured yet-without capturing it?) , I just thought how as a Christian, wouldn't that be nice.

Wouldn't that be nice to know how this relationship will go before I invest a lot of time and energy?
Wouldn't it be nice to know how this situation is gonna play out, so I will know whether I need to be concerned or not?
Wouldn't it be nice to know....you get the picture.

However, by the same token, I can think back over the last few years. Years when my faith has deepened because I didn't know how the end would play out.  I had to put my trust and my faith in God.  Not knowing the results before they happened led me to a better place in my walk with God.  It's allowed me to be a better minister to others.

And I can't help but think that God does wondrous things in us while we are putting our faith in him.   Knowing sure would have been nice, but it would have made us more self-reliant instead of God reliant. 

The author of Hebrews writes, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see."  (Hebrews 11:1)

Right now I'm going through a season in my life that is requiring lots of faith.  And I've thought about that camera, and how I wished I could see the outcome of what's happening.  How nice it would be to see the results because right now in the midst of it I can't tell what the conclusion will be.

And I will publicly admit it's hard to see how God is working.  But I know God cares, even in the small things about my life (I have an upcoming post about that, and it involves bread of all things).  And I know that God is sovereign.

God is working good out, even when I don't see it or feel it. 

And faith is trusting that the picture will come out well before it it is taken.