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You Have to Believe It Before You Can See It
By Rick Warren

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1 NLT, second edition)

Faith is visualizing the future. It’s believing it before you see it. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (NLT, second edition)

A lot of people say, “I’ll believe it when I see it!” God says the exact opposite is true: “You will see it when you first believe it.” There are many things in life that have to be believed before they can be seen.

In the 1960s, the Russians sent the first cosmonaut into outer space. He circled the earth, and when he came back down, he did a press conference and said, “I searched the heavens, and I looked for God, and I did not see him anywhere. Therefore, there is no God.” The Communists, which was an atheistic regime, said, “We now have scientific proof that there is no God.” About six months later, John Glenn went into space, circled the earth three times on Gemini, came back down, and held a press conference. He said, “I saw God everywhere! I saw his glory in the galaxy. I saw his splendor in the universe. I saw his majesty in the stars.”

Which one was right? They both were. Jesus said, “Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) Before there is spiritual transformation in your life, you’re too narrow-minded to see the possibility of what God wants to do in your life.

Wernher von Braun, the father of the nuclear movement, said, “There has never been any great accomplishment in history without faith.” It is faith that causes an architect to design a building because, first, he believes it can be done. It is faith that causes an Olympic athlete to practice and go to the Olympic trials because she believes she can achieve. It is faith that causes a sculptor or an artist to believe that he can paint a picture or attempt the sculpture. It is faith that causes the scientist to believe that we can put a man on the moon. Someone has to believe it before you see it. It is a universal principle of life.

Talk It Over

What do you believe God wants you to accomplish in your life?

How should faith affect your goal-setting?

Why do you think God wants us to believe in faith instead of just showing us before we believe?