“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) — There is something achingly human in the way our faith flickers. Sometimes it stands tall like a lighthouse in a storm; other times, it is barely a candle's glow in the shadows of our doubt. The writer of Hebrews knew this, and still called us to remember what faith truly is—not certainty, not proof, not perfection—but the conviction of things not seen. It’s a conviction that survives even when we cannot see the next step. We often forget: faith is not measured by how unwavering we are, but by our willingness to keep going, to keep hoping, even when everything in us wants to quit.
Abraham, Sarah, and the others named in Hebrews 11 walked forward not because they saw the finish line, but because they believed something greater was ahead. They acknowledged themselves as strangers and foreigners on the earth, and still moved forward—not by maps or guarantees—but by trust. They did not receive the fullness of what was promised in their lifetimes. And yet they remained faithful, not because it was easy, but because the One who called them was trustworthy. Their stories aren’t about flawless obedience—they are about the courage to follow, even with trembling hearts. That’s the kind of faith we need today: not loud, not boastful, but the quiet faith that says, “Even here, even now, I still believe.”
Faith that falters is still faith. Doubt is not the opposite of belief—it’s the soil in which real belief is planted. When we ache with questions, when the answers are far off, when God feels distant—we are not lost. We are on the same road our ancestors walked. They longed for a better country. So do we. And our faltering steps still matter. God does not wait for us to be certain to walk with us. God is in the questions, the longing, the stumbling forward. Even when our faith is worn thin, even when we cannot see the promise yet—faith, at its core, is the assurance that somehow, somewhere, God still is. And that is enough to keep going.