Our dehumidifier – “Bucket is full.”

There’s a machine making background noise as I’m typing. It’s a dehumidifier taking the moisture out of the heavy summer air. Every twelve to fourteen hours, a light on the machine says, “Bucket Is Full” because the machine has collected enough unseen water particles from the air producing a tangible substance – water.

Amazing

I know there’s a sixth grade science fair explanation here, but every time I empty the bucket, I think of another simple-yet-complicated process – Faith.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” Hebrews 11:1

Faith is the substance, like the full bucket of water, of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen – like the moisture in the air.  Like the unseen water in the air, we often aren’t aware of things we can’t see. Our faith rests at an intellectual level, lacking belief in what we can’t see.  When my faith is at this level, I miss out.

I wonder what prayer God’s answering while I’m despairing because I can’t see the results?

I wonder what evidence of faith I’m missing because I’m not expecting results from the prayers I’ve been pouring out?

Do you ever lack faith like that – where intellectual faith and heart-faith reach a great divide?

Most of us proclaiming Christianity have “faith” in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, believing He rose from the dead and was resurrected so that we can have eternal life in Him.

But if you’re like me, I lack the “heart faith” – the daily acts of believing God for the unseen. Believing Him for who He says He is and what He says He will do. I don’t plug into His word expecting my bucket to be filled with evidence of what is invisible.

I haven’t been intentional about expecting to see the results of unseen faith.

Like the dehumidifier, our faith works on the same principles.

Turning the unseen to tangible results

Our faith is the activating agent that produces substance – the water in the bucket.

Can’t you hear the Lord saying,

“I’m working – but you don’t see it because you don’t have faith in what you can’t see. You have to plug yourself into the faith-source and expect me too work. If you’ll believe I’m doing the work, you’ll see the evidence (Hebrews 11:1) In the proper time, the bucket will be full of substance you can see, feel, and touch. Expect results. 

I’ll be honest – these analogies are great until you put them into practice. Real life practice. Faith requires believing God for His goodness when the  circumstances say, “Don’t believe.”  It requires thanking Him for the outcome even though your head and heart say otherwise.

Have you ever walk in these places of challenging faith with “unseen” results?  Frankly, it’s hard to “believe” when everything else says, “It’s not gonna happen.”

But God is good.  I’ve been praying Psalm 23 the last several weeks. Praying scripture is powerful because it takes our eyes off of the circumstances and places His words and promises in our heart.  Tangible truth – heart faith – to hold on to.

I don’t know if you need tangible faith today.  I do.  I’m praying His word over and over again, believing when I can’t see, trusting His character and word when emotions say, “Don’t.”

That’s heart faith over intellectual faith – when our logical mind and emotional mind says, “No way,” but our heart dares to believe in the God who healed the blind, forgave the prostitutes, and parted the seas.

He’s still the same God. He hasn’t changed. He wants us to expect Him to work in ways we cannot fathom.

I’m ready to take the dare.  To believe like the woman at Zaraphath {I Kings 17:1).

Will you join me? Where do you need to have heart-felt faith that will transform the unseen to tangible results? 

Lord, Jesus, will you build our faith through your Holy Spirit? Will you give us rest in you for the things we cannot see, trusting your character above all else for what is unknown to us? Thank you for always being trustworthy, a God who never fails. Amen.

PS – I have the privilege to be a join the writing team at Ten to Twenty Parenting.  Join me there!