“Now
faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
Don’t you
wish that God was a little bit more detailed on His definition of faith? Couldn’t an all-powerful, creator God put the
concept of faith in more manageable terms?
The answer
is obviously “yes.” So why didn’t the
Father make it easier for us? Well, He
did. If a human had decided to make this
concept up it might be worded something like:
“Faith is
like . . . Noah - who was motivated to erect a huge never-before-seen box, and
collect all of the different kinds of animals in the world in pairs, and house
them and his family inside this box to be spared from a
never-before-experienced catastrophe.” OR
. . .
“Faith is
like . . . Abraham - who listened to a never-before-known deity, and packed up
his family and all of his earthly belongings to go to a never-before-seen land
in order to receive the promise of numberless descendants – even though he and
his wife Sarah were childless.”
OR . . .
“Faith
is like . . . Moses - who saw a never-before-seen bush, listened to a never-before-heard
voice inside of it, watched 10 never-before-imagined acts of power, led a
multitude of murmuring ingrates along a never-before-experienced pathway, ate a
never-before-eaten kind of bread, drank from a never-before-known kind of rock,
and received 10 never-before-published laws.”
OR . . .
God could
have just listed their accomplishments briefly as He did in the first place and
allow us to digest the information while learning through our own experiences
with Him how to follow their example.
You’ll have
to admit by providing the highlights of what motivated these people to trust
God’s promises and obey accordingly shows that they had to deal with a lot more
than anything we are faced with. And yet
even though they did not understand (1) why God had them do something strange
or (2) what the outcome would be, they matured a small amount of faith into
huge successes in their experience with God. In other words, their faith was
made manifest to countless generations because they trusted and obeyed.
So I’ve
come to realize that my struggle isn’t with a definition of a theological term
(faith) as much as it is with my own desire and commitment to trust God and
then obey without questioning. The legacy I leave in this life will be largely
based on the outcome of what my faith in God produces; not necessarily with the
details of the events that the Holy Spirit has guided me through. So I hope and
pray that will be enough for others who follow to be encouraged to trust God,
obey Him and establish their own legacy of faith to bless and pass on to
successive generations on into eternity.
Doug
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