Acting in Faith, Mailing the Letter

I substitute taught Lance’s mother’s seminary class last week, and as usual, I think I learned more than the students did.

I covered the book of Hebrews. I ended with a discussion about faith from chapter 11. Paul wrote to all the Jewish Christians about acts of faith from men and women in their scriptures (the Old Testament – they didn’t have the New Testament yet, it was still being written). Paul started by defining faith, a very similar definition to the one Alma gave:

Heb. 11:1 Now ^afaith is the ^bsubstance of things ^choped for, the ^devidence of things not seen.

Alma 32:21 ^aFaith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye ^bhope for things which are ^cnot seen, which are true.

James taught that faith isn’t just a mere hope, it is accompanied by works, or an action: “I will shew thee my ^afaith by my ^bworks” (James 2:18).

The seminary manual had a GREAT illustration of faith:

When you go to the post office, and drop a letter in the mail to your brother, you are showing faith that will be delivered. You aren’t actually going to see the letter as it is loaded onto an airplane, flown across the country and delivered by a post man to your brother’s mail box. However, you mail the letter – an act of faith – because you know that it will be delivered. How do you know? Maybe you had a previous experience with mailing a letter and it was successful. Maybe trusted friends have testified to you about the result of mailing a letter.

It was so fun to apply the “mailing the letter” definition to the examples of faith that Paul lists in Hebrews 11.

Heb 11:7 By faith ^aNoah, being ^bwarned of God of things not seen as yet, ^cmoved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the ^drighteousness which is by faith.

When did Noah “mail the letter,” or show his faith? He acted in faith when he built the ark. He “mailed the letter” – followed God’s commandment to build an ark because his previous experiences had taught Him that when he obeyed God’s commandments, he was blessed.

Heb 11:8 By faith ^aAbraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an ^binheritance, ^cobeyed; and he went out, not ^dknowing whither he went.

When did Abraham act in faith, or “mail the letter”? When he obeyed God to leave his home and wander in the wilderness. What was the evidence that “the letter was received” – that his act of faith led to a result that could not be seen at first? When God blessed him with a land of inheritance.

Sometimes by following God’s commandments, we feel like we are wandering in the wilderness. This strange desert land that I am now living in feels very wilderness-like, but I know I’m supposed to be here. From experience, I know that the Lord takes care of those who keep his commandments.