"So wait," you might be saying. "Why would you enter a poker tournament when you don't really know how to play the games?"
Yes, that thought occurred to us as well. It was a set-up for potential disaster. Yet we chose to try, anyway. In part, it was because of the opportunity to do our main goal of ministry. And in part, it was a step of faith. A famous book defines it this way....
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)
We had no way of knowing what would happen in the tournament. The order of the games wasn't even determined until we showed up.
Yet that's how faith operates - and if you think about it, poker players use more faith than they might realize. Why would you call a big bet with a draw for the nut flush? Why would you pursue an open-ended straight draw? It's due to faith that the right card could come.
But this Bible verse challenges us to make our faith bigger. It's more than an Ace on the river. It's
about believing in a God who created real rivers....
By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. - Hebrews 11:3 (NLT)
Atheism demands physical proof of things. So does scientific research. But Biblical faith calls for belief in evidence that seems incomplete to the naked eye. It also calls for walking every day in that sort of faith.
Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. - I Timothy 1:19 (NLT)
Read all of Hebrews 11 to see some amazing examples of faith-filled people in history. Then put your faith "in Christ" - far more than a poker hand. When Jesus comes again (and we write in faith, based on the Bible, that He will), your faith will be rewarded.
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