Hebrews 11 is righty dubbed “The Hall of Faith.” The chapter begins by identifying just what faith is. You see, so many have the wrong view of faith. So many have been told that if they have the faith to give generously from their resources that God will bless them. Others have been told that if they would just have enough faith, God would heal them of their sicknesses and diseases.
However, this chapter actually begins with this: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” (Hebrews 11:1-3). It is actually telling us that when God spoke the word, the patriarchs believed what He said. They acted even though many, as in the case of Abraham, never lived to see his offspring to be as many as the stars in the sky, or the sand on the sea shore. Yet, that promised was fulfilled. It requires faith to believe that God created all things from only His spoken word. We didn’t see it happen. But our very lives are evidence of it. What we need to have faith in or faith for consists of the unseen and simply taking God at His word.
The chapter then goes on to list many individuals who acted by their belief even though they didn’t see the fulfillment of the promise either at all or at least not right away. I’ve mentioned it before in articles, but it is so true that it bears repeating: true faith isn’t about believing to receive something from God but that we believe in God and trust Him even when things aren’t going as we might have expected. For instance, the chapter mentions stopping the mouth of lions. This happened to Daniel. He was thrown into a den of hungry lions. It looked like he would be torn apart and devoured. But God chose to stop their mouths and he spent the night in the den without harm.
But in the early days of the Church, many were placed into arenas as common criminals and were torn to bits by lions. Did they not have enough faith to believe that they would be delivered? I say that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, real faith means that we trust God whether we are delivered from the lions or devoured by them. Faith means we trust God regardless the outcome. We believe in Him despite persecution, pain, sickness, disease and death.
The Bible is full of examples of faith. Many were given victory in their situations and many perished because of their belief in God. But in every case, they were victorious, not because they were given glory, riches or honor, but because they held tight to their belief in God even when it didn’t turn out so good.
The roll call of faith isn’t just of those who were heroes or victors, but of each and every one who holds to their belief and trust in God no matter what happens. In our victory we can boast of God. In tragedy we can testify how our Creator brought us through. Even in death, we can rejoice in the fact that we have the hope of Heaven promised by God Himself. Having faith means that we trust God that He is going to give us the best result for our situation, even if it isn’t what we think should happen. That is faith. It is the knowing that no matter what may come our way, God has saved us from the destruction of hell and death and we are victorious whether we live or die. We can echo the words of Paul in Philippians 1:21 where he says, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” If we live, we continue our testimony of Christ and His salvation. If we die then we know we will be with our Master.
So, I’m calling on all those who are of the faith. Those who hold to God when times are good and when times are bad. Those who will believe and stand fast in the Lord even when the circumstances seem to call us liars. We hold to God. We stand and see the victory.
One more quote from Paul – “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:11). By Paul’s description we have been given an entire arsenal of spiritual armor to stand in faith against our enemy, the devil. But he so adequately adds, that when we have done everything that is right, after we have exhausted our Biblical knowledge and resisted to the best of our ability, we have one weapon left – stand strong despite opposition, and trust. When it seems hopeless, we stand still and see God’s victory. Because, you see, for believers in Christ, our victory is inevitable. We win either way. We win because of our stance in Christ. He is our victory. He is our hope. He is our answer in each and every time. That is faith. That is who God is looking for in His roll call. Calling all the faithful … will we answer?
– Jerry D. Ousley is the author of “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey”, “Ordeal”, “The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional” and his first novel “The Shoe Tree.” Newer books include “Finality” and “Dividing God’s Church.” Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.