In the midst of defeat, conquest, devastation, chaos and want, Jeremiah expresses confidence in and loyalty to God:
Lamentations 3:22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[b]
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord. [ESV]
We find an echo in the “actual” definition of faith in Heb 11:
Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 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. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. [ESV]
This, is how Faith achieves that which is in Heb 11:1:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
For, faith is about well founded trust in God and in his recognised, given word. It is not blind or irrational but transcends what we can know; even as our trust in our mothers rightly transcends what we can ever demonstrate. As it must, as the future is the as yet undiscovered country. The land of risks and opportunities.
Faith, then, is a trust-adventure walk with God into that undiscovered country with its hope anchored in his character of inherent goodness and utter wisdom. END