Faith=Believe what we do not see

Cont’d from page 3

[48:4]  He is the One who places contentment into the hearts of believers to augment more faith, in addition to their faith. To GOD belongs all forces of the heavens and the earth. GOD is Omniscient, Most Wise.

Faith is to believe in what we do not see. Then St. Augustine said: the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. We don’t have to go through life blindly following something we don’t understand. Religious leaders are always saying you have to accept this or that on faith. Accepting things on faith can be used as an excuse, when the leader or scholar doesn’t have the answer. But the proofs are there to make that faith solid and real, if we’re open to the proofs.

We believe God is in full control of all things.

[3:109]  To GOD belongs everything in the heavens and everything on earth, and all matters are controlled by GOD.

[6:102]  Such is GOD your Lord, there is no god except He, the Creator of all things. You shall worship Him alone. He is in control of all things.

[11:56]  "I have put my trust in GOD, my Lord and your Lord. There

is not a creature that He does not control. My Lord is on the right path.

We accept that on faith—God is in control. But when we believe that, then we actually see it. We can look back on our paths and know without a doubt that God made it happen. My road to Submission began years before I knew God, but He made all the steps happen which brought me to Tucson, which brought me to Submission. I can see the progression and marvel at how it worked out, thanking God for His divine intervention. Or I can close my eyes to that and just see a bunch of coincidences that randomly happened.

Faith isn’t an excuse. It’s reality. Maybe you can’t physically see God and so you accept Him on faith, but His ways aren’t unreal. They are totally real, and He manifests Himself in everything around us.
Look at signs like sunsets and flowers. Everyone can see a sunset and a flower. Most everyone really appreciates a beautiful one. But for submitters, it’s a proof of God’s greatness and His gifts to us. We know sunsets don’t have to be beautiful. There’s no improvement in the function of day and night by having a nice sunset in between. The sun can set and will rise again even if there’s not a bit of color in the sky. But what beauty. And for believers, we get to enjoy the beauty of the sunset itself, and

then we get to enjoy the feeling of appreciation we have for God who made it happen. This is the reward of our faith.

That’s why I liked the quote from St. Augustine. Yes, faith is acknowledging that God and Heaven and the angels are unseen. But when we have that faith, then God does show us the things we believe in.

[3:193-5]  “Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling to faith and proclaiming: `You shall believe in your Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord, forgive us our transgressions, remit our sins, and let us die as righteous believers. “Our Lord, shower us with the blessings you promised us through Your messengers, and do not forsake us on the Day of Resurrection. You never break a promise.” Their Lord responded to them: "I never fail to reward any worker among you for any work you do, be you male or female - you are equal to one another. Thus, those who immigrate, and get evicted from their homes, and are persecuted because of Me, and fight and get killed, I will surely remit their sins and admit them into gardens with flowing streams.” Such is the reward from GOD. GOD possesses the ultimate reward.

Lydia