I tried to argue with my mother when I was a child, but she would say, “Are you disputing my word?” Her word was the final authority and there was no need to discuss it or argue about it any further.
A person might ask you, “What faith are you?” meaning “Are you Baptist or Catholic?” Or “What religion are you? Hindu? Muslim?” Others talk about faith as a virtue. “Just have faith, sister. It will turn out all right.”
Discussions abound on the subject of what faith is, drawing on the famous Bible definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1, which says, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Consider the woman mentioned in Hebrews 11–Sarah, wife of Abraham, mother of the Jewish race. The scriptures say she was given strength to conceive when she was 90 years old because she considered Who had made the promise and determined Him to be true to His word.
She looked down at her 90-year-old body, which had been barren even when she was young, and she realized it was impossible for her to have a baby. Then she looked up into the stars, and tried to number them, as God had told her husband to do.
She thought about the One who gave the promise–God Almighty, the Creator of the universe–and determined that He was reliable, trustworthy, faithful, and true to His word. Simply put, she decided that if God said it, He would do it, no matter how it looked to her natural mind.
At that moment, Sarah stopped doubting His word. That is faith. Anything less is sin, because it is the same as calling God a liar.
“God is not a man that He should lie,” Num. 23:19. If God has said He will do it.
The Psalmist said, “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven,” Ps. 119:89.
There is no place for doubting or disputing His word. Faith is simply taking God at His word.