Sunday Messages · 4 October 2026 · Note
The Faith of God: Framing Your Reality
What you see came from what you can’t
Look at something solid near you: the phone in your hand, the table in front of you. It feels permanent. So do the problems we can see. A doctor’s report, a bill, a broken relationship can all seem as fixed as stone, and most of us let what we see have the last word.
Scripture says otherwise. What we see is the last stage of a deeper process.
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Hebrews 11:3 · NKJV
The Greek word behind “framed” is katartizo, and it was an everyday working word. Doctors used it for setting a broken bone back in place. Fishermen used it for mending their nets so they could hold a catch, which is what James and John were doing when Jesus called them (Matthew 4:21). In public life it described restoring order to a city torn apart by faction.
The physician
katartizo
“Setting a bone”
Putting what is broken back where it belongs, so it can bear weight again.
The fisherman
Matthew 4:21
“Mending a net”
Repairing what has torn, so it can hold what it was made to hold.
The city
public life
“Restoring order”
Bringing peace to a place divided against itself.
So when God framed the worlds, He was not decorating. He was setting things in place, mending what holds, and bringing order out of chaos. Everything visible was made from what is invisible.
A picture from physics
Here is a picture that helps me. At the subatomic level, physics does not describe a particle as sitting in one fixed spot. Until it is measured, it is described as a spread of possible outcomes. Scientists call this superposition.
I am not saying physics proves the gospel. I am saying the solid world rests on something far less solid than it looks, and Scripture said so first.
God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.
Romans 4:17 · NKJV
To us, looking at the physical, the thing is missing. To God, it is already settled, and He speaks it until it is seen.
Abraham is our example here, and he keeps us honest. He did not call things he merely wished for. He held on to what God had promised. And he did not pretend. He faced the fact that his body was as good as dead, and he did not weaken in faith (Romans 4:19). Faith does not deny the report. It denies the report the final word.
The fig tree: the roots go first
In Mark 11, Jesus speaks to a fig tree, and the disciples hear Him. That day nothing looks different. The leaves are still green.
Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
Mark 11:20 · NKJV
His word took effect where no one could see, a full day before anyone could see it. That is how God’s word works: roots first, leaves later.
Peter says, “Rabbi, look!” Most Bibles give Jesus’ answer as “Have faith in God.” The Aramaic Bible in Plain English renders it, “May the faith of God be in you.” Either way it lands in the same place. The faith that moves mountains begins with God, not with us. He is its source and He is its object.
Jesus is not showing off a private power. He is inviting His disciples in. You do not have to manufacture this faith. It comes from Him, through His word (Romans 10:17).
Doubt in the heart
Whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
Mark 11:23 · NKJV
If you are thinking, “But I have doubts,” you are in good company. It helps to see that there are two kinds.
Doubt of the mind
John 20:27
““How will God do this?””
An honest question. Jesus met Thomas’s questions with evidence, not rejection.
Doubt of the heart
James 1:6
“A divided stance”
The Greek word means to be split in two — a wave thrown back and forth by the wind. One foot on the promise and one foot on the problem.
You can have questions in your head and still have your heart settled on what God said. A father once told Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief,” and Jesus healed his son (Mark 9:24).
Three practices for a settled heart
Speak
Mark 11:23
“To the mountain, not just about it”
Name the problem honestly, as Abraham did. Then give the promise more airtime than the problem.
Answer
Matthew 4
“The lie, out loud”
When a thought of failure comes, do not let it settle. Answer it with what God has said, as Jesus did in the wilderness: “It is written.”
Act
Romans 4:20
“Before you see it”
Keep walking as though God’s word is true while everything still looks the same.
Hear this clearly. See your doctor, take the medicine, pay the bill, and speak the word. None of those cancels the others.
This is not a technique for forcing God’s hand. Jesus has already finished the work, and confession is how we agree with what He has done. If your mountain has not moved yet, that is not a verdict on you. Stay settled. The roots go first.
Your response
What is the broken bone, the torn net, or the divided city in your life today? The God who framed the worlds can set it, mend it, and bring it to order.
God already knows the problem, so put the promise into words. Say it aloud where you are, or write it down. If you need healing: “By His stripes I am healed.” If you need provision: “God is my provider.”
Prayer
Father, I pray for everyone reading this. Thank You that Your word framed the worlds and has lost none of its power. Let the faith of God be in us. Where there are broken nets, mend them. Where there is chaos, bring order. Where hearts are divided, settle them on what You have said. We speak to every mountain in the name of Jesus, and we trust You with the roots before we see the leaves. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.