Reflections for Youth - Things we can not see

What are some things that we can't see - but we know are there?
 
The first thing that comes to my mind is air. Air is something that we can't see but we can see what it is doing. We can see leaves blowing and we can feel it on our faces.  
I am thinking about this question this week because one of our scripture passages  says: 
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Those are some confusing words—but I think it means that faith is being certain of things we can not see.

So, God is like the wind. We can’t see God, but if we look around, we can see what God is doing.

It's from the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament.  Here are the first three verses (NRSV version):

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.  By faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible." 

The verses from The Message bible maybe be a little easier to understand:

"The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd."

Read Hebrews 11: 1-3, 8-16
 
Hebrews is also known as an epistle -a letter that was written by a leader or follower of Jesus to followers of Jesus in other places. This particular letter—may be written by Paul (but we can’t be exactly sure) is to Jewish people, know as Hebrew. 

They are people who have knowledge about God all their life. The letter doesn’t tell us where these people live but they believed that Jesus was sent by God. This got them in trouble with people that didn’t believe this.  People who were against them told Roman officials that they were causing trouble and life was terrible for them.

So the author of this book of the Bible wrote the Hebrews a letter—which is the longest of all the letters in the Bible. The letter was written to encourage and remind the Hebrews of all the other people that came before them and trusted in God, no matter what.

The letter tells them to remember their ancestors, people like Abraham and Sarah who had such faith in God that they traveled to a new land. They trusted God even when they couldn’t see—or even imagine what God told them was going to happen. Remember that Sarah when had a baby named Isaac, they knew that God kept promises.

When we read the letter to the Hebrews today it can remind us to trust God because God will keep promises. 

I know that is not easy considering all the bad things that are going on in our world. But, this passage has given me comfort this week. It was helped me remember all the people that have come before me and been through awful things and survived. 

 It has reminded me to look for all the good ways that God is working in the world. 
Here are some questions for the week:

• Hebrews is a long letter of encouragement. When have you received a letter or a message from someone that was encouraging and lifted your spirit? Can you think of someone that might need a letter of encouragement from you? 

• What do you know about your families ancestors? Where are they from? How can you find some encouragement in their stories? 

• Have you ever changed your mind about something because you began to see things in a different way? Noticed something that maybe you hadn't seen before? 

• What are some ways that you have seen God working in the world this week?