you well." But what was her faith? It was an action. She didnt say, "I believe IF I was to touch his garment, I would be healed." She actually touched the garment. She acted on her belief, and faith was born.Faith is an action that makes a difference in our lives. It has been said that the way to test whether you really have faith is whether or not the course of your life has surprised you. If everything has gone according to plan, and weve come out exactly where we intended to, if we have led lives that turned out just the way we planned them, then perhaps we have not heard or responded to Gods Spirit in our lives. If on the other hand, our lives have taken unexpected turns, perhaps it is because we are sensitive to Gods leading, alternative routes. If, like ancient Abraham - who intended to spend his whole life in Ur, but ended up going to Gods Promised Land instead - if we find ourselves ending up some place totally unexpected, then maybe Gods hand has been active in our lives. And in faith we have felt that presence and ACTED on that presence. [Daily praise from the Bible]. When we act on our faith, our faith makes a difference in our lives. Cardinal Suhard, archbishop of Paris during the Nazi occupation, described the life of faith as "living in such a way that ones whole life would be inexplicable if God did not exist." [Patriarchs and Prophets]. Reinhold Niebuhr said "Faith is the final triumph over incongruity, the final assertion of the meaningfulness of existence." [Daily Praise from the Bible]. It is faith that brings life to life. As William James said, "Faith is a force in life, and when it is absent life collapses." The apostle Paul put it this way: there are three great things: faiths, hope, and love, and the greatest is love." But the first thing on the list was faith, for without faith there is no hope and no source of love.The author of Hebrews wrote (11:1) that "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, [and] the ...
