What is a Four-Letter Word for Faith?
Pastor’s Perspective Column, Stevens County Times
May 2026
By Pastor Tim White
It seemed so unfair. They seemed so perfectly matched. He was a pastor’s son with an evident gift for music, and she loved to worship Jesus. They fell in love at Bible College and had hopes for a long and fruitful life together. Then, one day in May of that year, she broke off their relationship.
Confused by her baffling decision, her boyfriend would soon discover that the love of his life, at age 20, had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and it had spread. His response was not what she expected. He met with her and asked one question: “Will you marry me?” She said, “Yes.”
As they planned for their October wedding, he would go with her to chemo treatments. In time, they got some good news; the cancer had gone into remission. Things were looking up. God is good, and prayers are working. Full steam ahead.
The day finally came, on October 21, 2000, they were married; she was now 21, and he was 22. Although the “C-word” was still a concern, they were hopeful about their future together. One can imagine this one phrase in their vows, “…’til death do us part,” had greater significance that day as they pledged their lives to each other.
Sadly, their marital joy would be interrupted shortly after returning from their honeymoon. She began to feel ill, and in November, the doctor informed them that the cancer had returned, and the outlook was not promising. As this new husband turned twenty-three in mid-January, he watched his beautiful bride gradually slipping away from him day by day. Then the dreaded day came. On February 5, 2001, just 106 days after they said, “I do,” he kissed his wife for the last time as she slipped into eternity.
Some of you may already know that this is the story of Jeremy and Melissa Camp. Jeremy Camp is a well-known contemporary Christian singer and songwriter who has produced multiple albums and many award-winning songs. However, one song stands out to so many who know his story. The song, “I Still Believe.”
Jeremy Camp included a note on the CD, “WOW Hits 2004,” liner that featured “I Still Believe,” which stated: “This is the first song that the Lord gave me after the passing of my wife. I remember one night the Lord speaking to my heart to sit down and write a song, and I really didn’t feel like writing at the time, but of course, the tug was too strong. The whole basis of the song is that basically, no matter what happens in your life or how devastating a situation may be, God is still on the throne. And everything in His word is truth.”
What a declaration from a grieving and very young widower – “I still believe!” While others facing heartache and loss have blamed God or rejected Him, Mr. Camp chose to hold onto his faith and seek comfort in it. He had faith in his Heavenly Father’s love, power, and wisdom. But that’s not all he had; there is one 4-letter word that is at the heart of our faith – the word “hope.”
In the well-known “love chapter” in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, it ends with “the greatest of these is love.” The other two of the three remaining attributes are “faith and hope.” These two attributes are deeply intertwined. It is impossible to imagine having faith when one has no hope, and similarly, one cannot be hopeful when one has lost one’s faith.
Paul the Apostle wrote to the Roman believers about the road to hope, saying: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction,…” There are some who teach that you cannot teach from narratives (stories), but only from the exclusive teaching passages. However, Paul clearly contradicts such a claim, and Jesus Himself taught the people and His disciples through parables (i.e., stories).
Then, Paul lays out the pathway to hope: step one, “… that through endurance…” which is another way of saying “I still believe” in spite of the challenges of life. Step two, Paul goes on to point to what fuels “endurance,” and that is “…through the encouragement of the Scriptures…” Contained in all of scripture are the truths and examples that can inspire us to keep enduring in the midst of our trials. As we let the record of scripture strengthen our faith, something else begins to happen within – we begin to “… have hope.” (Rom 15:4 ESV).
The Greek word for “hope” in scripture is not anything akin to our modern “wishful thinking” concept of “hope.” Simply defined, “hope” is the confident expectation of a better outcome based on God’s power and promises. Hope is the spark that ignites ongoing faith in God, as it is fed by the continual encouragement found in scripture. With genuine hope-fueled faith in God, the believer can look at an impossible situation and “still believe” with calm confidence that the final chapter has not been written.
God promised Abraham a son when he was 75 years old, and his wife was 65. The promise lay unfulfilled for 25 years. When he reached the age of 100, he still had hope. Paul expresses this in Romans 4:18a, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…” When everything seemed to say, “It’s hopeless, Abe! You and Sarah are ancient. You two are better suited to become antiques than future parents.” Nevertheless, in the face of there being no rational reason for hope, Abraham, “in hope,” believed.
Abraham’s hope enabled him to “face the fact that his body was as good as dead, …as was Sarah’s womb.” However, he did so, “Without weakening in his faith…” (v. 19). Abtaham knew their bodies were barren, “Yet he did not waver through unbelief…but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (vv. 20-21).
Abraham and Sarah did have a son, just as God had promised. Jeremy Camp met and married Adrienne in 2003, and they now have three children. The challenge to their faith only made that faith stronger precisely because they had already placed their confident hope in their God, “being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised.”
Our nation is in turmoil, deeply divided by those who lust for power – either to keep it or to regain it. Likewise, your family, community, or church may be facing situations that seem hopeless. This is the time when the people of God need to grasp the hope in God, fueled by the encouragement in the scriptures and the testimonies of the past. We must not allow the size of the conflict (at home or in society) to cloud our vision of how big our God is and how He is far more able to carry us through, doing what no one else can. And so, in hope, we proclaim our faith in God for a better outcome than what we face today, as we say, “We still believe.”