Hyper Faith or Live By Fate

REFERENCE:  Heb. 11:6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

OBSERVATION:  How important is faith? In our modern day evangelical Christian way of looking at things, faith can seem like a "take it or leave it" kind of thing.
We have the "hyper faithers" who wrestle blessing from God by saying the right thing and putting much effort into "faithing" for some great payoff (too often, of a grand material nature). On the other hand, we have the those-who-live-by-fate: they live as though whatever happens, happens--it's all God's will and our prayers or faith have little to do with it. 
Here God makes it clear as to what our stance ought to be; faith does matter. In fact, without it we can not please God. We need to believe that God is the kind of God who wants to bless us and to give His kids good gifts.
On the other hand, it also makes it clear what the object of our faith most clearly ought to be: God Himself, not primarially the "stuff" we want. Faith, in the end, is about having enough confidence in the character of God to "diligently" (NIV) seek Him. Not causually, not from time to time when it is convienient, but dilligently and sincerely (in other words, not just for our blessing but because we really, simply want to know Him better). 
This is the kind of pursuit that is rewarded. This is the kind of pursuit that is the evidence of true faith. Faith in God, in His character, in His promises, not just faith in stuff happening.

APPLICATION/CONFESSION: I get lazy and distracted sometimes in my pursuit of God. There is so many other things to do--important things, but not the most important.