Answer: The Bible says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). It’s all because of our faith in the Lord within that we are able to believe in the Lord, accept His salvation, follow Him and bear witness for Him. However, the basis of achieving the real faith in the Lord is to obey God, love God and satisfy God in everything during the process of following God, such as abandoning everything to expend for God and being willing to pay the price without any expectation for reward; persisting in preaching the gospel to testify God no matter what kind of persecution and tribulations we meet; insisting on reading the Bible, attending meetings, praying, and practicing God’s word to satisfy God etc..
God says, “What does faith refer to? Faith is the genuine belief and the sincere heart that humans should possess when they cannot see or touch something, when God’s work is not in line with human notions, when it is beyond human reach. This is the faith that I speak of. People are in need of faith during times of hardship and refinement, and along with faith comes refinement. These are inextricable. No matter how God works or what kind of environment you are in, you will be able to pursue life, seek to have God’s work carried out within you, and pursue the truth. You will have an understanding of God’s actions and you will be able to act according to the truth. This is your genuine faith, and this shows that you have not lost hope in God. You will still pursue the truth in refinement, you will be able to truly love God and will not develop doubts of Him. No matter what He does, you will still practice the truth to satisfy Him, and you will be able to deeply seek out His will and be considerate of His will. Only this is true faith in God.” “When you face sufferings you must be able to not consider the flesh and not complain against God. When God hides Himself from you, you must be able to have the faith to follow Him, to maintain your previous love without allowing it to falter or disappear. No matter what God does, you must submit to His design, and be more willing to curse your own flesh than to complain against Him. When you are faced with trials you must satisfy God in spite of any reluctance to part with something you love, or bitter weeping. Only this can be called true love and faith.” From God’s words, we know that the true faith means that we are able to have a pure and obedient heart to believe in God when we encounter the people, matters and things that are not in line with our conceptions. No matter what kind of trials come upon us or how painful we are, we neither complain about God nor deny God, nor have doubts about what God has done. Instead, we can quiet our heart before God to pray, seek for God’s will and practice the truth to obey God with a heart of fearing God. This is the true faith in God. Just as Job was tempted by Satan: His livestock was robbed from him by bandits, his servants were killed, calamity befell his children, he had sore boils all over his body, his wife laughed at him and asked him to forsake the name of God, and his three friends came to judge his mistakes. When Job faced these sudden misfortunes, he endured pain in both his body and spirit, but he was still able to hold on to his integrity—Fearing God and shunning evil. He didn’t sin with his lips and would rather die than complain about God. And Job also blessed the name of God, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). Job bore strong and resounding testimonies for God, which shamed and defeated Satan. This is the true faith of Job. Seeing Job’s faith in Him, God blessed him, speaking to him from the whirlwind, bestowing upon him more cattle, sheep, and beautiful children. And finally Job died, full of days. Job is the model of faith and he is worthy of emulation by each of us believers in the Lord.
However, in our real life, when some people encounter illnesses, misfortunes or natural and man-made disasters, they complain about God, don’t want to attend the meetings or read the Bible anymore, and even have the heart of betraying God. Furthermore, some people can judge, deny and betray God if God’s work is not in line with their conceptions. It can be seen that in the practical environment, many people’s deeds can’t prove that they have true faith.
God says, “What does faith refer to? Faith is the genuine belief and the sincere heart that humans should possess when they cannot see or touch something, when God’s work is not in line with human notions, when it is beyond human reach. This is the faith that I speak of. People are in need of faith during times of hardship and refinement, and along with faith comes refinement. These are inextricable. No matter how God works or what kind of environment you are in, you will be able to pursue life, seek to have God’s work carried out within you, and pursue the truth. You will have an understanding of God’s actions and you will be able to act according to the truth. This is your genuine faith, and this shows that you have not lost hope in God. You will still pursue the truth in refinement, you will be able to truly love God and will not develop doubts of Him. No matter what He does, you will still practice the truth to satisfy Him, and you will be able to deeply seek out His will and be considerate of His will. Only this is true faith in God.” “When you face sufferings you must be able to not consider the flesh and not complain against God. When God hides Himself from you, you must be able to have the faith to follow Him, to maintain your previous love without allowing it to falter or disappear. No matter what God does, you must submit to His design, and be more willing to curse your own flesh than to complain against Him. When you are faced with trials you must satisfy God in spite of any reluctance to part with something you love, or bitter weeping. Only this can be called true love and faith.” From God’s words, we know that the true faith means that we are able to have a pure and obedient heart to believe in God when we encounter the people, matters and things that are not in line with our conceptions. No matter what kind of trials come upon us or how painful we are, we neither complain about God nor deny God, nor have doubts about what God has done. Instead, we can quiet our heart before God to pray, seek for God’s will and practice the truth to obey God with a heart of fearing God. This is the true faith in God. Just as Job was tempted by Satan: His livestock was robbed from him by bandits, his servants were killed, calamity befell his children, he had sore boils all over his body, his wife laughed at him and asked him to forsake the name of God, and his three friends came to judge his mistakes. When Job faced these sudden misfortunes, he endured pain in both his body and spirit, but he was still able to hold on to his integrity—Fearing God and shunning evil. He didn’t sin with his lips and would rather die than complain about God. And Job also blessed the name of God, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). Job bore strong and resounding testimonies for God, which shamed and defeated Satan. This is the true faith of Job. Seeing Job’s faith in Him, God blessed him, speaking to him from the whirlwind, bestowing upon him more cattle, sheep, and beautiful children. And finally Job died, full of days. Job is the model of faith and he is worthy of emulation by each of us believers in the Lord.
However, in our real life, when some people encounter illnesses, misfortunes or natural and man-made disasters, they complain about God, don’t want to attend the meetings or read the Bible anymore, and even have the heart of betraying God. Furthermore, some people can judge, deny and betray God if God’s work is not in line with their conceptions. It can be seen that in the practical environment, many people’s deeds can’t prove that they have true faith.