Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding.” Our own understanding is developed through the perceptions we have made throughout our lives.

Here is the definition of perception from Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary. “Receiving impression by the senses; or that act or process of the mind which makes known an external object. We gain knowledge of the coldness and smoothness of marble by perception.”

Faith is not a perception, it is a substance according to Hebrews 11:1. It says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Job was in a hard trial. In Job 23:8 he said, “Look, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him.”

I love verse 10. It says, “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” We know from Philippians 1:7 that our fiery trials are purifying our faith from any doubts, fears, or unbeliefs. Hard trials expose hidden dross.