Things hoped for

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
Things hoped for – How does what you hope for affect what you do now?  Do you hope to take a vacation in the summer?  Great!  What are you doing now that will make that vacation a reality?  Are you saving money, looking over travel guides, planning the dates?  Every time you act in accordance with that future hope, you are demonstrating the reality of something that is not yet present.  The vacation that you hope for is altering the way that you live now.  The future is changing the present.

Think about all the other future hopes that you are demonstrating in your present actions.  College for your children?  Retirement?  A better job?  A new house?  Every one of these “hoped for” realities calls for present actions.  Here’s the bottom line:  if you’re going to make these hopes become real, you need to act on a plan!

You have just discovered the secret of faith.  Faith is executing the plan associated with God’s reality.  When I look beyond the horizon of this world, I discover a different kind of reality; a reality that is governed by God.  “Thy kingdom come on earth” is a prayer that says, “I want God’s world to become the real operating environment of my present alien world.”  I am telling God that I hope for His reality to become the obvious, apparent reality.  I’m signing up for His plan!  And that means that I need to start thinking, speaking and doing those things that will shape my world into the God-hoped-for world He shows me.  I need to live according to the plan.

“Things hoped for” are not my ideas.  They are not my private, inner dreams.  They are the elements of God’s plan.  Faith is knowing His plan and putting it into action.  Faith is living the plan today so that it will be a reality tomorrow.

So, here’s the question:  Are you living the plan?  Do you know what it is?  Do you see it operating in your actions, thoughts and decisions?  God’s reality is not a dream.  It is a plan!  And if you aren’t acting in accordance with His plan today, then guess what?  You don’t know what faith really is.