Thanks Shawn. Let's look at Heb 11:1.

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." (NIV)

If it seems that faith is just “confidence” in what you’ve been told, the chapter goes on to supply examples, and they point to people doing whatever they believe they're supposed to do without knowing if it will work out.

For example: "By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones." (v.22)

We're not seeing a story here about Joseph accepting a lot of religious concepts without questioning them. His story, in Genesis 50:24-25, refers to his belief that God will work out the future parts of the story.

Faith is an idea of dedication to a God who is larger than a mortal lifetime, and is fitting together the parts of a larger story.