faith Today is my first full day at Camp Caudle. Annually I have–since the year 2000–traveled northwest from my home, up to a little summer Christian camp near Hector, Arkansas. Throughout the day we will be singing, studying and enjoying the company of old friends. It’s one of the few true highlights of my year and one which takes too long to arrive and passes too quickly once it has.

The theme of our morning classes at camp is on the word “faith.” To better understand it, the young people will be studying it in five areas. This week let’s follow along and consider in our morning devotionals the same five lessons the youth are studying out here in the wilderness.

First of all, when you study faith, you need to remember that faith is all about FINDING.

That seems like a misnomer to some, because “faith” has often been mischaracterized as “thinking something is real even if there’s no proof of it.” On the contrary, the things for which Christians have faith are real, and because of that we have faith in them. The problem many people have is they hear about the things for which Christians have faith, and they say “but you’ve never seen Him” or “but you’ve never been there” as though empirical evidence was the only way to have confidence in something’s reality.

No one in their right mind disputes the statement “George Washington was the first President of the United States.” And yet, who today has seen him? Why is it that the people who disbelieve in the moon landing are considered nuts because “just because you haven’t been there doesn’t mean someone else hasn’t” but the people who believe in Heaven are nuts because “you’ve never been there so how do you know!?” Do you see the hypocrisy?

Faith is not about seeing things. It’s about not needing to see things.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Just because I haven’t seen Jesus or Heaven doesn’t mean I don’t know they are real. Faith–true Bible faith which is rooted in knowledge–gives me the evidence of those things which I haven’t seen.

Faith is all about finding the evidence in those things which we haven’t seen. I know there’s a God because all the evidence points to it. I know there is a Heaven for the same reason. I know Jesus rose from the dead for the same reason as well. Still, despite all thee evidence, I personally still haven’t seen God or Heaven or Jesus in the flesh. Yet I know they are real. That is faith. It’s not based on “crossing my fingers” or thinking “boy I sure hope I’m right about this…” It’s about knowing a thing, with needing to see or touch it, and then being motivated to act on that knowledge.

That’s faith.