Certain of What You Cannot See


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At Houghton College there is an indoor pool contained within the athletic complex. During my years there it was kind of a tradition for students to break into the gym after hours and go swimming in the dark. I was always kind of a stick-in-the-mud, rule-follower, and so I never took part in this particular rite of passage, but beyond it being against the rules it also seemed really terrifying to me because part of the tradition was to climb up onto the high dive in the dark and, without being able to see the water below, dive in. From what other students told me it was pitch black in there, so dark that you could not even see the end of the high dive platform as you inched your way out onto it, feeling for the edge with your toes. They knew the water was below them, but they couldn’t see it, and it was unnerving not being able visually gage how far down it was. That is a great picture of faith though.

In Hebrews 11, sometimes called the faith hall of fame, more ink is devoted to telling Abraham’s story than any other. The first verse of that chapter defines faith as being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, and when we read the beginnings of Abraham’s story in Genesis12:1-9 God asks Abraham to leap out into the dark. He speaks to Abraham of many hopeful sounding things that he could not yet see with his eyes. His following of God was exemplified by faith not by sight.