Hebrews 11:1-3 NLT
[1] “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. [2] Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. [3] By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”
Faith! What is faith?
Our writer gives a definition that is sometimes difficult to understand. Simply put, faith is confidence in God that He will do everything He said He would do. Our hope is what the end results of His promises will look like.
He said we will be transformed into the likeness of Jesus. That’s our hope. So, we believe that everything we are called to suffer now is moving us towards that goal. He said that, if we endure, we will be with Him in glory. So, we persevere through thick and thin because our hope is to be with Him forever.
Faith, then, is the gossamer thread of trust, confidence in God that joins us to Him and His intentions for us. Faith grows stronger every time we push through a trial, a test that strips off another layer of suspicion, mistrust, or doubt that clouds our vision of God’s faithfulness to see us through to the end result.
“Absolute trust is freefallimg into the arms of Jesus, knowing that He will always catch you. “
Hebrews 11, known as “the faith chapter” is a summary of the lives of Israel’s heroes of faith. Many triumphed, some suffered because they had faith in God to do what He promised. Together, they form the “great cloud of witnesses” to the value and merits of trusting God through good and bad. Beyond earth’s experiences lay a life in God’s presence in His eternal city prepared for them, too marvellous to know now but as sure as God Himself.
Hebrews 11:13-16 NLT
[13] “All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. [14] Obviously, people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. [15] If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. [16] But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
It is said, “To be heavenly-minded is to be of no earthly use? ” This is a lie and and contrary to the Scriptures. It was because the witnesses of which our writer writes had their hearts and minds set on heaven that they acted in faith at God’s command and endured the often terrible consequences of their obedience.
Without the vision of an eternal reward for faith and obedience, life is nothing more than aimless wandering in a barren and howling wilderness.
We, too, will join that cloud of witnesses as we participate with them in this journey of faith that will take us through the dark valleys of testing and trouble to His eternal city. The great test of faith is to continue when nothing seems to be happening, when the way ahead is foggy and uncertain, when God’s voice is silent, and when the enemy closes in with doubts and fears that threaten us with loss and disappointment for believing in Him.
God’s promise of final victory over all the negatives of this life is for those who endure to the end because they have fixed their gaze on the heavenly and everlasting prize.
To be continued…