In hardship and waiting, we often hope God will change our circumstances and answer our prayers in the way we desire.
By Paul Zhang
AI-generated narration; not Paul Zhang’s recorded voice · What Is True Faith?
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In hardship and waiting, we often hope God will change our circumstances and answer our prayers in the way we desire. Yet health, family relationships, or work may not improve, even after earnest prayer. The foundation of Christian life is Jesus Christ, not the strength of our believing. Faith is our reliance on Him: receiving and responding to the grace God has freely given in Christ, rather than trying to make God do what we want.
The life of faith is not an exercise in self-motivation, nor does it require us to make reality sound better than it is. Biblical faith does not avoid the complexity of human life. We experience weakness and pain, and we have questions. Faith does not ask us to convince ourselves that we are invincible. It invites us to turn toward the trustworthy God while much remains unexplained. Admitting that we do not know is not the same as denying His faithfulness.
True faith is not believing that God will always do what we want, but trusting that He remains faithful even when He does not. We may tell God what we hope for and acknowledge how difficult waiting has become. Trusting Him does not mean that we always feel secure. It means entrusting our lives to the Lord of grace even in confusion and weakness.
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
— Hebrews 11:1 (WEB)
Faith is assurance concerning what we hope for and confidence concerning what we do not yet see. It rests on God and His promises, not on our changing feelings. Hebrews 11:3 directs our understanding of creation toward God’s word; it does not ask us to substitute faith for every form of inquiry. Learning the facts, receiving appropriate medical care, seeking reliable advice, and planning thoughtfully need not conflict with trust in God. We can ask honest questions while acknowledging that our understanding remains limited.
We do not create reality through the force of belief. We trust the God who created and sustains all things. His faithfulness does not rise and fall with our emotions, and His promises are not identical to the outcomes we have chosen for ourselves. When the road ahead remains unclear, faith keeps us listening to His word, discerning the next step, and responding with hope and obedience.
Genesis 4:3–5 recounts Cain and Abel bringing offerings and God’s regard for Abel and his offering. Hebrews 11:4 explains that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice by faith and received testimony that he was righteous. The explanation in terms of faith comes from Hebrews. We should neither invent Abel’s unrecorded motives nor insist that differences between the offerings had no significance.
Enoch’s walk with God is recorded in Genesis 5:22 and 24. Hebrews 11:5 emphasizes that he was taken up by faith and had already received testimony of God’s pleasure before he was taken. Abel died, while Enoch did not experience death. Scripture does not use these different outcomes to rank their faith, nor does it promise that every believer will escape death. Neither outcome gives us a scale for measuring faith by present circumstances.
Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
— Hebrews 11:6 (WEB)
God commends faith because it trusts Him, not because it has mastered a religious technique. Hebrews 11:6 speaks of the God who exists and rewards those who seek Him. Read alongside Hebrews 11:13–16 and 35–40, that reward cannot be reduced to wealth, health, or favorable circumstances in this life. It directs our attention beyond immediate gains and losses toward God’s promises and the better country. Fellowship with God, new life, and eternal hope help us understand that reward within the letter’s wider message; they are not bargaining terms with which to secure the outcome we want.
The Wesleyan tradition understands salvation, from beginning to end, as the work of God’s grace. Prevenient grace comes before our response, awakening us and enabling us to respond to the gospel. Justification by faith means receiving forgiveness in Christ and being reconciled to God, rather than accumulating merit through works. Sanctification is the Holy Spirit’s continuing work of renewing our lives so that we grow in love for God and neighbor. Justification and sanctification belong together, but they are not interchangeable.
Obedience, then, is not the price we pay for salvation; it is the response of a life that trusts God. Receiving salvation freely does not excuse us from repentance or love for others. Grace enables our response and calls for a response expressed in action. As the Spirit renews us, gratitude begins to shape how we treat people, carry out our responsibilities, and respond to temptation.
We do not have to make ourselves perfect before we are permitted to approach God. We draw near because of Christ’s saving work, and within His grace we learn obedience and responsibility. Growth takes time. The presence of weakness is not a reason to stop seeking help or to give up responding to God.
Hebrews 10:32–39 reminds its readers of the suffering and losses they had endured and urges them to persevere. Hebrews 11:13 and 35–40 also shows that some died without seeing the complete fulfillment of the promises. True faith makes room for weakness, confusion, and the strain of waiting. We need not pretend to feel strong at all times, nor claim to know the reason for every instance of suffering. Coming to God in tears to seek mercy is not the opposite of faith.
Faith is not a lonely struggle, but a life in which we help one another through hardship. Hebrews 10:24–25 urges believers to consider one another, encourage love and good works, and value meeting together. The church’s companionship, encouragement, and prayer matter deeply. This does not mean that someone temporarily unable to gather has been abandoned by God. We should seek practical ways to care for one another within our circumstances, rather than place another barrier before those who are already struggling.
Imagine someone who has unexpectedly lost a job. After weeks of prayer, there is still no offer of work. Faith does not require this person to pretend to be unconcerned. It makes room to bring real needs honestly before God and to ask trusted people in the church for help. Alongside prayer, Scripture, and wise advice, there are practical steps to take: pursuing work, managing household expenses, and making honest decisions. Circumstances may not change immediately, but the burden need not be carried alone. Concealing fear is not a requirement for proving that one has faith.
Our final reliance is on Christ, not on our own endurance. Hebrews 9:28 speaks of His being offered once to bear the sins of many; Hebrews 4:15–16 speaks of His sympathy with our weaknesses and our freedom to seek mercy and grace. Bearing sin concerns His saving work; sympathizing with weakness speaks of His understanding and help. We should not collapse these into a single expression. The better country of Hebrews 11:16 is heavenly, a hope God has prepared for His people. Looking toward it does not make our responsibilities today unimportant.
looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
— Hebrews 12:2 (WEB)
Faith does not deny the pain of reality or demand that we become strong overnight. In prayer, patient endurance, and practical action, we keep looking to the Lord who endured the cross and now sits at God’s right hand. Questions may remain unanswered. Even so, we can walk together in hope, looking forward to the day when we will see Him.
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