By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. (Hebrews 11:9 ESV)
Faith is not Hope
My automobile engine, recipes, and Salvation are all confusing concepts, which I do not grasp rationally, but experience with some sort of faith.
The Future is also a confusing concept, but it requires hope rather than Faith.
Somehow, in a way that transcends my reasoning ability, my automobile usually runs. I used to rationally understand my car more than I presently do. But I do not worry about it. I have faith that right now, for this little while, my car is not stalling.
Recipes seem logical, but my experience has been that even when I meticulously follow every jot and tittle of the instructions in the cookbook, something strangely goes wrong… or strangely goes right. But I do not worry about it. I have faith that the dinner I am eating is ok.
Salvation, particularly the part that gives me an unearned relationship with God, is sometimes beyond my reasoning ability. Why does God love ME? Why is God doing THIS difficult thing? Why is God so much slower, or faster, or bigger, or smaller than me?
Faith is what gives me peace when driving my car, eating my dinner, and best of all, when contemplating my relationship with God right now.
Hope, while similar to Faith, looks ahead to the future. And the future is a good thing to consider.
But Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in tents. Today (for them) mattered. And their Faith that God is, that God loves, and that God saves, all in the present tense, enabled them to survive, and to even more than merely survive.
It is not that our future is unworthy of attention, or hope. But rather, we ALSO get to have Faith for today. Because life matters today. And when it does not make sense today, God grants us Faith to accept… Faith to endure… Faith to enjoy… Faith to exist… Faith to trust.. Faith to believe… and sometimes, Faith to hope.
Faith Alone