“Eyes-Open” Faith

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, August 10th, 2025:
​Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

---

​Hebrews
11.1-2, 8-12

Brothers and sisters: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

For Abraham looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself, though barren, received power to conceive, even when she was too old, because she considered him faithful who had promised.

Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Hebrews assures me: If I have faith in God, I can believe that everything I hope to happen — even if I have not yet seen evidence of it happening — will happen.

Hmm. Does this mean that if I hope for a million-dollar windfall God will make it happen? No, I don’t think so. You see, I don’t need a million dollars to live the blessed life God wants me to live, and God knows it — so why would God give me what I don’t need? God, in His wisdom, wants to gift me what I need. If I continue to ask for what I don’t need and fail to both recognize and pray for what I do need, my hopes and desires will not be aligned with what God knows I need. I will have lost my way, and God will need to re-direct me.

In short, then, the things I hope for must be aligned with God’s plan for my life. 

I’ve shared in earlier reflections times when I’ve hoped and prayed for things I never received. You may have heard the adage, “When God closes a door, He opens another.” Well, plenty of times I have stood at a closed door, banging away stubbornly, unaware that God had something better for me, that another door was swinging open and waiting for me to walk through.

As I mature, I am learning to walk through the doors God opens. It’s true that I may not know where the door is leading, but I can trust God to bring me to a good place. He has done so many times. A look back over my life shows me this. I don’t need to “take a leap of faith.” I have a lifetime of evidence proving that God wants to open doors to good things. And, although the path to those doors may have been rough and potholed, what waited on the other side of the door was more than worth the effort. I may not know where God is leading me, but I know the end will be good. God has proven faithful. I don’t need to be afraid.

Instead of having “blind faith” or “taking a leap of faith,” my life has shown me that I owe God a faith based on reliance, an “eyes-open” faith, a “walk-through-the-open-door” faith. God’s goodness is certain. The goodness of His will for me can withstand an objective assessment, because the evidence is right there. He always wants good for me. And He always wants good for you.



​Donna Davis

---