Faith is a verb.
Dictionaries disagree. In their opinion faith is a noun. I’m not a scholar to argue with dictionaries, or even Bible translators, but to me faith is a doing word. It is something to be done. Not just today, or this month but often for a long time.
It is one of life’s doings.
We have breathe and we breath.
We go for a run and we run.
Likewise to have faith, we faith. That is, we do the works of faith.
James 2:17 says, ‘Faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.’
Our Christianity exhorts us to live in faith, live by faith, to be healed by faith and be saved by faith. Faith expressed as a noun. Yet so much faithing must be actively practiced to remain faith.
Abraham left everything familiar and walked to an unknown destination. Why? To obey God. Hebrews 11:9 says Abraham stepped out in faith. He had very little instruction. No map. Wandering a land that belonged to others. He lived in tents. Today we’d call it homeless. To him it was faithing.
Genesis 15:6 says Abram believed the Lord and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. When he lied about Sarai, his wife, to protect himself, his call and the instruction given by God, was in his thinking. When he agreed with Sarai’s desperate plan and used Hagar to help God fulfill his promise, he effectively was forcing God to fulfill the promise his way. God, even then, was counting him as righteous… because of his faith. Through bad behaviour God saw faith.
Sarah had no choice but to follow along. Was she faithing as well? Then the impossible happened. She conceived. The Passion Translation says, ‘Her faith rested in the One who made the promise…’ (Heb:11:11). Rested is an interesting word. So much faith requires resting. She judged Him faithful, believed God would keep His promise. For years she faithed, even while she laughed at the idea of having a child past her body’s ability to reproduce.
Isaiah prophesied in faith, even though he never saw the fulfillment of his words. He rested in the fact God’s word was infallible. For the same reason Jeremiah spoke unpopular, difficult and often disastrous words. He physically felt the kickback of his words when thrown into prison and dropped in wells. Ezekiel lay on his side and cooked his food over dung for a total of 430 days. (Ez 4:5f) Why? God said. He faithed. In obedience he suffered… faithing in the extreme.
Great faith was displayed by the nation of Isreal by stepping onto the bed of the Red Sea, with water piled up on each side. They ran in because God had opened a way for them to escape their enemy. However when they were half way across, with no sign of the enemy anymore, surrounded by the press of their own countrymen, how did they feel then. It was still a long way to the shore. Water stood on their left and their right, restrained by an invisible wall. Can you imagine it? My heart races thinking about it. When that invisible wall eventually fell in response to Moses outstretched staff they watched as water drowned their enemies.
The water trapped the Israelite refugees. The same water parted to save them and then crashed back and defeated their enemies! Then three days later they thought they were going to die because of lack of water. They struggled to learn faith.
A toddler learns to walk a few steps at a time as their legs strengthen and their balance improves. Likewise, we learn faith a few acts at a time and sometimes we fall. The Father lifts us up, steadies us and we continue faithing.
Mary Magdalene showed her faith by publicly washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. Her faithing demonstrated that her sins, which as Jesus explained were numerous, were forgiven. Her faith that didn’t care what anyone thought of her. Just an action that demonstrated her confidence she was forgiven.
Look again at our scripture from The Passion Translation, ‘Faith that doesn’t involve actions is phoney.’ James 2:17.
In other words, faith is a doing word. God described it to me as verb. Who am I to correct God?
In my experienced writing is faithing! I know there are many of you that are skilled writers and I admire your work. But I write because God said, leaving a message He wants read by the few who find it. Every key I press happens because He gives me the words.
It is the most important thing I do, because He called me. I can relate to Sarah. ‘Who me? I’m passed book-birthing age!’
Yet he is faithful and now His words have won a Caleb prize.
He is unfailingly faithful to me and I try to be faithful to Him, faithing my way to another God book in my El Shaddai Series.