Faith Always | Pastor Evan Carmichael

I want to be clear about what faith really is, because faith is often misunderstood. Faith is not optimism, it is not positive thinking, and it is not simply hoping things work out. Biblical faith is confident reliance on who God is and what God has said. Faith is substance and evidence, it is choosing to trust God even when what you see has not changed yet. A friend once told me when he found out he had cancer that “I may have received a diagnosis, but that diagnosis is not the final word, God’s promise is.”

Hebrews 11 shows us that faith has always been the way God relates to His people. Abel and Cain both brought offerings to God, both participated, both showed up, yet only one offering pleased Him. God was not measuring the size of the gift, He was weighing the posture of the heart. Abel brought the first and the best, Cain brought something, and participation alone was not enough. Faith honors God with priority, not leftovers, because faith always moves first and does not wait to see what remains.

Abel’s faith pleased God even though it cost him. Faithfulness does not guarantee comfort, and obedience does not remove opposition. Abel became the first person to suffer because of his faith, and yet Scripture tells us that even though he is long dead, he still speaks. Faith may not protect you from pain, but it will always position you for eternity. Abel never confronted Cain, yet his obedience exposed Cain’s disobedience, because light always irritates darkness. When God warned Cain that sin was crouching at the door, He gave him an opportunity to respond in faith, but refusal to obey opened the door to destruction.

Then there is Enoch. In the middle of a long genealogy marked by repetition and death, Enoch interrupts the pattern. Scripture says he walked with God, not occasionally or only during spiritual moments, but daily. Enoch walked with God while raising a family and carrying responsibility, showing us that faith is not about escaping life to be spiritual, but about inviting God into every part of it. His faith was relational, not event based, and his life reflects what God has always wanted, relationship over religion.

Abel and Enoch represent two ends of the faith journey. One suffered and died, the other overcame death, and both pleased God. That tells us something important. Faith is not measured by outcomes, it is measured by obedience and trust. Some promises are fulfilled on earth, and some are fulfilled in eternity, but either way faith always pleases God.

Hebrews 11 says it plainly. Without faith it is impossible to please God. There is no substitute for it. Talent cannot replace it, activity cannot replace it, and good intentions cannot replace it. A life without faith will never please God, but a life of faith always will.

Faith is not optional. It is the foundation of the Christian life and the only thing God responds to. Where faith is present, God is pleased, and where faith is absent, nothing else makes up the difference.