The Power of the Gospel
by Alisa Harewood
Creative Media Lead, CBN Europe
Featured Articles
Faith can feel like an elusive word. A far-away concept. Tune in today and read as Alisa Harewood unpacks the word faith, it’s implications and how it is the essence of the power of the Gospel.
The Meaning of Faith
One thing I continue to look at is what the word faith truly means – not to everyone else, but to me. The dictionary has several definitions. The one I like the most is this:
To have great trust or confidence in something or someone.
However, if we look at the Hebrew origins of the word faith, we trace it back to a word called Emunah (Eh – moo – nah). The word Emunah means to have faith, but it has a broader meaning that has implications for what God calls us to as people of faith. It contains the idea of steadfastness or persistence.
It says in Hebrews 11:1:
‘Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.’
Throughout the Bible, the idea of faith is like a staircase. You may intellectually know that the stairs go up to the next level. But until you climb the stairs, you won’t experience that next level. This is what Martin Luther King Jr. meant when he said: “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”
One of the examples I love can be found in Matthew, Mark and Luke and is the story of the woman with the issue of blood.
‘Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her haemorrhage stopped.’
(Luke 8:43-48)
‘Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.’ (Hebrews 11:1)
Emunah Faith
This level of faith leaves me breathless!
I am not going to lie to you though, in times of deep pain and sorrow, I have struggled to have this type of faith. This woman had suffered for twelve years and must have endured so much, but when the time came, she knew that all she needed was one touch of His garment, and she would be healed.
When I gave my life to Christ three days after my late husband died, he gave me a clear and hopeful option: to have faith in Him. But the three years that followed, when I was in the eye of my storm and putting my hope and faith in everything other than in Him, led me further and further away from the promise that He had given me.
Maybe you are in a place right now similar to where I was. You’re struggling to see how you will move out of a place of pain, grief or profound loss. Maybe you are so angry at Him that you don’t even know what to say to Him or if you want to say anything at all. Perhaps you are in a place full of sadness and confusion about where God is in the middle of your storm.
Let me tell you something – the Lord’s steadfast love and mercy is there for us all, and hope can be found in the middle of any level of sorrow. But we must have the type of biblical faith that is much more than just believing a statement about God.
We must live our lives in complete reliance upon Him.
Cry out to Jesus today. Tell him your issues and choose to have ‘Emunah’ faith which gives us the power to know that we put all our trust in the Lord. He will keep His promises and will never leave us or forsake us. He has a life that is full of love, hope, joy and purpose, even when we can’t see it.
