Faith is the Victory?

When I was growing up we sang a hymn which had the line "Faith is the victory that over comes the world." I think we all knew what we meant by that but I am not sure that anyone would know what we mean today. After all we refer to people of different faiths. Is this the faith that over comes the world? We talk about having faith so that something will happen as if faith was what caused the miracle. Is this the faith that over comes the world? We make it sound as if it is up to us. If we have faith then "A" will happen. Lately I have preferred to use the word trust which gives to me more of the idea that we are resting in our God.
Did Joshua have faith? Absolutely. Was that faith the force that made the waters stand up in a heap? No. It was the God who did it and Joshua had faith that God would do it. Would it have happened if Joshua didn't have faith? I don't think so. However, it was still all about God and not Joshua.