Seeing God’s Vision

*Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-6*

Have you ever heard someone say, “Faith is believing something you know isn’t true”? It’s a rumor that gets passed around a lot, the idea that faith is really just pretending. Making something up and then convincing yourself it’s real.

That’s not believing. That’s make-believing.

And if you ever want to truly grow in Christ, it’s essential to learn the difference.

In the Bible, faith is never simply a set of ideas to agree with. Yes, it has content, things to think about and understand. But biblical faith shows up in action. It makes decisions. It takes risks. It leads to rich reward and the spiritual enlarging of your life.

We call this the Christ Journey. You were made in the image of God to know and experience Him, and to join the adventure He has for you as you grow.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, put it this way: *faith without works is dead* (James 2:26). There’s a kind of faith that looks religious but has no spiritual pulse, no life in it. It’s flatlining. That’s not what Hebrews 11 is describing. Hebrews 11 describes faith that’s alive, faith that’s life-giving, faith that invites you into something more.

Some people live at sea level: what you can see is what you get. But the Bible says there’s a next level above sea level, and you get there by learning to live by faith.

Hebrews 11 is perhaps the greatest chapter in Scripture on faith. Here it is in the New Living Translation:

> Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

The word translated “reality” in verse 1 is the root of our word *hypothesis*, an educated guess that guides research toward things not yet seen. In other words, scientific knowledge itself starts with faith: a belief to be explored that expands our understanding of reality.

The word translated “evidence” is a legal term: the kind of proof that brings conviction, the way evidence does in a courtroom. So right from verse one, faith isn’t make-believe. Faith is at the heart of how we know what we know (epistemology) and how we understand what’s real (ontology). Or, more simply: **life travels at the speed of trust.**

Verse 3 says that by faith, not make-believe, we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, and what we see didn’t come from anything visible. Faith helps us understand where we came from and why we’re here.

The word translated “understand” means to observe, to think, to wonder. Applying mental effort, wondering, is itself an act of faith. As Einstein put it, *”Imagination is more important than knowledge… knowledge is limited, while imagination embraces the entire world and all that ever will be to know and understand.”* Don’t let your mind, or anyone else’s, keep you from believing there is more than what you can currently see. Just because something is invisible doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

Verse 4 tells the story of two brothers, Cain and Abel, who each brought an offering to God. Genesis 4 shows us that Cain lived for himself; the driving question of his life was, “What’s in it for me?” Abel, by contrast, brought God the first and best of what he had. It wasn’t about himself. And *the Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering.*

Abel is long dead, but his faith still speaks. That’s the kind of faith God is after: the kind that keeps on living even after this life ends. And it often shows up first in generosity, taking your life to the next level by trusting God with what’s in your hand, whether that’s your finances, your time, or something else you hold tightly.

Verse 5 tells us about Enoch, who “walked faithfully with God, and then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24). Enoch is one of the few people in Scripture who never experienced death; he simply walked so closely with God, in such deep friendship, that one day there was no more distance left to close.

Faith isn’t a once-a-week religious experience. It’s an everyday relationship: learning to follow the Spirit’s prompting, listen to God’s voice through Scripture, and follow His lead in decisions, relationships, work, and the fight against temptation. That’s what it means to walk with Him.

A young woman from our church, now a medical student and trainee chaplain, once wrote about a moment on her hospital rounds: a young boy brought into the trauma bay after a near-drowning. His mother stood at his side, crying out his name, begging him to breathe. When the medical team finally got him breathing, the mother sank into her chair, sobbing with relief.

*In extremis*, literally “in extreme circumstances,” at the point of death, is where the desperate cry for God becomes most real. It’s where faith stops being an idea and becomes a lifeline. And it’s where real faith can transform tragedy into something more than survival: into next-level life.

Verse 6 closes with this: *without faith it is impossible to please God… he rewards those who earnestly seek him.* Without faith, we’re stuck with only what we can see and do on our own. But when we step out and trust, God shows up, and we start collecting our own stories of His faithfulness.

As one longtime Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, once said when asked if he believed in the security of the believer: *”Absolutely, but I also believe in the insecurity of the make-believer.”*

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Use these to sit with this passage a little longer this week, alone, with a spouse, or with your family around the table.

Is there an area of your life where you’ve been going through religious motions without real trust underneath, showing up like Cain, rather than offering your best like Abel?

*Read: Genesis 4:1-7*

Set aside ten quiet minutes this week to simply look at creation, the sky, the ocean, a sunrise, and let yourself wonder at what you can’t fully explain. Let that wonder turn into prayer.

*Read: Psalm 19:1-4*

Faith often shows up first in what we do with our resources. Is there a next step of generosity God is inviting you into, beyond what feels comfortable or automatic?

*Read: Proverbs 3:9-10*

Enoch’s faith wasn’t a single dramatic act; it was thousands of ordinary walks. What’s one daily rhythm (Scripture, prayer, silence) you could build this week to walk more closely with God?

*Read: Genesis 5:21-24*

Is there a crisis, a diagnosis, a relationship, or a fear you’ve been carrying alone, trying to manage it yourself? Faith isn’t pretending it isn’t hard; it’s crying out to the One who can meet you there.

*Read: Hebrews 11:1-6 and Psalm 34:17-18*

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What’s your next step of faith? Not the kind that just looks good, but the kind that calls to something deep. Ask the Lord, and then take it.*