So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me. (Acts 27:25)
What is faith? Many times I find that people confuse faith—biblical faith, with blind faith, where you believe in something despite the evidence to the contrary. In this way, faith is seen as a stab in the dark or a mindless belief in the unknown. However, biblical faith is different. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is not mindless. Faith is “assurance.” It is a confidence, but confidence in what?
One of the best pictures of faith we see in the Bible is Paul in Acts 27. In this story, Paul is supposed to be sailing to Rome in order to stand trial before Caesar. On the way, the ship that Paul is on encounters this intense storm and the crew on board begin jettisoning cargo and everything they can in an attempt to survive. The storm was so bad that “all hope was fading” (Acts 27:20). So these experienced sailors were terrified that they were going to die, but Paul was not. When all hope seemed lost, the apostle Paul stood up and said that an angel of God “stood by him” and told him “don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar.” Everyone who was sailing with Paul would make it out alive. Paul then says to everyone on the ship, “So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me” (Acts 27:25).
In other words, Paul has assurance in someone. That someone is God, the same God who never lies (Num. 23:19). So faith is far from a stab in the dark. It is the confident assurance that God is who he says he is and will do what he says he will do. Faith is trusting in the God who is trustworthy. Faith is believing God and his word because you know that our God will never fail to keep it. Blind faith is hoping and guessing. Biblical faith is hoping and knowing.