Faith Is Not, Faith Is

Faith is not a childish thing,
Enfolding us like a blanket, familiar and old;
Not a pleasant memory from the past.
God wants us to be believers, resolute and bold.



Faith is not your name written on a church’s list,
It’s putting your life on the line;
God calls us to a living relationship,
He invites us to come and dine.

Faith is not a sequence of glibly spoken words,
It’s commitment from the heart;
It doesn’t come and go with winter’s stormy wind,
A firm foundation in Christ is the start.

Faith does not fuss, complain, and whine
Nor mumble and fumble through life’s days.
If He were standing here, what would you say?
Faith sings His song, a symphony of praise.

Faith does not accept whatever comes,
Not weak and passive to enemy blows;
Faith stands upon God’s Word with Holy Spirit’s power
And ever stronger in devotion grows.

Faith calls for obedience, awake and alert,
Faith and action go hand in hand;
Faith sees the way is hard, but hears our Father’s voice,
“Go forth and possess the land.”

Faith needs sorrowful confession first
To cleanse the heart from hardened sin;
Then God restores the one who kneels
And infuses His great love and power within.

Faith is a school where lessons are given
To those who gladly submit to discipline’s way;
There are mountains to be climbed, a work to do,
Joy in His presence for those who —by faith — obey.

by Elaine Hardt ©1999