faith is a substance

this is actually part ii of yesterday’s post. i was about to do what i normally do, & edit an already published post as some changes & caveats came to mind, but it became a whole long string of additional thoughts :)

hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. over the years i’ve come to see faith as an actual, vital ingredient. a sort of activator to God’s power. like this :

God’s word to us x our faith = the thing comes to pass*

i know there are dangers in this; for me the biggest one that comes to mind is the danger of idolatry, of putting the promise at the forefront, rather than the Fulfiller of the promise. but thanks be to God, He has made provision for our human weakness. He is always able to make a test of our true loyalty, as He did with Abraham, and purify our faith.

i met my husband twenty four years ago, & in that moment, the Lord immediately told me, “that’s your husband!” He told josh that i was His wife in the exact same moment. now, at the time, i wasn’t in the habit of hearing from the Lord. this was a very new & untested, quite baffling thing! a year later, after beginning to date (long distance, as i was living in the peruvian jungle at the time, he in indiana), then within the year living in the same town, & the relationship began to crumble. for two generally peaceful people, it was actually pretty volatile! and…quite confusing. the Lord had confirmed our relationship, & even spoken of our future children, & then it just started falling apart. meanwhile, the Lord was telling me through scripture, through other people (prophetic words), & through His own whisperings to me, that josh was to be my husband. frankly, at that point, i didn’t even want it anymore! but…i wrote everything down in what has since become called “the book of promises”—a little square-shaped handmade journal with japanese paper cover, ribbon closure, and black pages written on with a silver pen, in which i recorded everything God spoke to me concerning josh & our future together. it was a little nuts to me, so new & untested! i hadn’t been raised in a culture that taught me about hearing from God. it was really a bit of an experiment at the time, like, what do i have to lose by writing these things down & seeing if they come to pass? but also, it was all just crazy enough that i had a little grain of mustard seed of faith…

that mustard seed actually took me away from josh for two years, across the country to seattle. i knew if i stayed, i’d bend my will to make it happen, i’d keep my claws in it, & if God was going to do it, He’d do it best without my help—just purely in His miraculous way, so that only He could get the glory. a few weeks into my move He challenged me with, “michelle, are you willing to look the deepest, blackest, darkest, saddest thought in the face—that this thing may not come to pass, & you would still love, trust, & worship Me?” from where this sprang up, i don’t know, but in my spirit it was truly a resounding “YES!” the loyalty must always, always, be to the Promiser & not the promise. He will test you on this.

i don’t want this story to be the focus, so i’m wrapping it up quickly here : i ended up getting engaged to someone else (i won’t even pretend here that i walked this out perfectly, or in an exemplary, unwavering faith-filled way—it was all quite clumsy!), we called off the wedding (which the Lord had actually foretold josh in a dream), & josh & i were married within a few months. twenty years of marriage in november of 2025! but…that story started off our life together on a foundation of faith. it’s a core value for our family that we take Him at His word. He continues to speak very specifically to us—it’s a big part of our journey with Him. & we’re learning to let go of the reigns more & more each day.

when our faith is in the Fulfiller, rather than the fulfillment, we can enter the rest of faith, & this is where the joy comes in! hebrews 4:9-10 talks about rest for the people of God, that we enter into that rest by ceasing from our own works. in the previous chapter, hebrews 3:18-19, we’re told that the israelites, wandering in the wilderness, couldn’t enter into the rest God had for them because they didn’t obey & they didn’t believe. faith, worked out in the practical matters (big or small) of our lives says, “You’re my only hope out of this mess!” “if You don’t show up i’m sunk!” and “i can’t wait to see what You’re going to do!” faith means we can’t do anything to help God out except believe. we put the thing—the hope, the word, the promise, entirely in His hands, so that if it’s going to happen, it will only happen by His doing. we give up our contingency plans, our plan B—there’s nothing if He doesn’t “come through”. but we can rest from our labors to bring any of it to pass. we get to continue on with a quiet faith in our hearts, without fixation on the thing, moving on with our lives, knowing that He will bring it to pass in His own time & in His own way, & we can’t even do anything to bring it about. we’re free! it’s 100% surrender—a faith in the One who is faithful, & the Holy Spirit gets to come in & take over, giving us His peace & joy, knowing that He is faithful to bring about His promises to those who trust in Him. that is the rest that faith offers, & it brings true happiness, just as jeremiah 17:7-8 tells us :

“Happy are those who trust in the Lord, who rely on the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23

(*this little formula didn’t originate with me, but it’s a bit of a fun e=mc squared for christians, coined by lee thomas as rhema x faith squared = manifestation, which i’ve adapted + adopted from praying effectively for the lost.)

* wallpaper is “marigold” by morris & co in cowslip