Faith is believing what you don’t see, but not at the exclusion of what you see.

Hebrews 11:1 declares, “Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.” It’s easy to take these words out of context. The things we hope for aren’t wishes. They’re not our personal goals. They are the hope of faith. We can trust them because of faith. We don’t have to see tangible proof. However, we cannot let faith override what we see.

Faith always keeps our eyes wide open. Just because faith is not dependent on what we see or don’t see, we need to stay alert. Otherwise, we explain away the unexplainable. We excuse the inexcusable. Our faith is not dependent on sight, but it is also not devoid of sight. We do a lot of damage to our own and others’ faith when we refuse to see what is right in front of us. This behavior has damaged the church in America, because we have represented faith in unhealthy ways. If our faith is to honor God, why would we use him to excuse bad behavior? Why would we project our priorities on him instead of seeking him to set ours? Why has faith become more about us than about him?

Let’s open our eyes—to him. Let’s open our hearts—to him. Let’s quit making faith what we want it to be, what comforts and affirms us. It’s more—much, much more.