Hebrews 11 says:
“BY FAITH Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous…” (4)
“BY FAITH Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death…” (5)
“BY FAITH Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household…” (7)
“BY FAITH Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, NOT KNOWING WHERE HE WAS GOING…” (8)
“BY FAITH Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age…” (11)
“BY FAITH Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act offering up his only son,” (17)
“BY FAITH Moses , when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” (24-25)
BY FAITH these followers of God prospered. They were reckless and relentless. I love what is said about Sarah in Hebrews 11:11…”she considered him faithful who had promised.” God, the one who promised that she would conceive even in her old age in Genesis 18:10, she knew to be faithful and therefore had faith. Still what I find interesting is Sarah’s first reaction. She laughed to herself saying what would be somewhere close to, “Ha…good joke,” in our day and age.
For some reason, I find comfort in that, because oh how I’ve done the same in my life! God gives a glimpse of who he would have me become or shared the great and glorious things he is capable of doing, and I respond with an internal, “yeah right” only to be received with a “Yeah I AM right.”
But the key thing is to understand what makes Sarah faithful rather than faithless:
“She consider him faithful who had promised.” (Hebrews 11:11)
God’s not surprised by our human reaction to His awesome power, but what marks true faith is the discarding of the “sensible” and “logical” and taking hold of the promise. Faith is saying, “God said he would, so I believe he will.” This is regardless of what the world says, what my limited knowledge holds to, or what science or man-made logic claims to be true (science has failed too many times for me to place my faith in that). God has proven himself faithful from the beginning of time, and is therefore worthy not only of our belief but our trust. When push came to shove, Sarah trusted God. It was either trust God or miss out on the incredible things he had in store.
And this seems to be an underlying theme for all of these faith followers. Noah had never seen rain! EVER! Prior to the flood the vegetation of the Earth was watered by what could be classified as underwater hot springs (Genesis 2:6), but God hits Noah up and in my little paraphrasing says, “Yo I’m going to flood the Earth because of all the junk (sin) going down and I need you to build an ark and tell your fam to get in it and snag the clean animals too…male and female, 2 by 2, etc.” And guess what…Noah did it! He had no idea what God was talking about or how things would work, but he just believed and did what God told Him to do. Faith. And what happened next…one heck of a thunderstorm! (Genesis 7:10-12) But check it Noah and his family were rescued. Why? Because of Noah’s faith.
Faith seems to be the underlying theme here because it is imperative. It’s not just about believing in God. It’s about BELIEVING GOD.
Lord I pray I would have faith like these…trusting you always.
