Faith & Hope in God's Promise | Hebrews 11 Devotional

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” —HEBREWS 11:1

I am so glad Hebrews 11 is in our Bible. I am so glad we have the fantastic, victorious stories of men and women who, by faith, saw God doing incredible things. God works in amazing and dramatic ways, but I am also glad the whole chapter is there.  

Hebrews 11 is considered to be a classic chapter on faith, citing examples of many men and women who not only lived by faith, but died in their faith. To get the entire picture, we cannot read the first half without reading the second half. The writer of Hebrews mentions numerous people who, through faith, conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames and escaped the edge of the sword. All wonderful and encouraging to read, but the writer doesn’t finish there. “Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison” (Hebrews 11:35-36). 

The writer then lists a catalogue of sufferings, and follows up with, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised” (Hebrews 11:39). We may think that living by faith will always lead to recognized success; that we’ll never be beaten or overcome, but that is not true of Scripture. Jesus, Himself, was called a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Throughout history, many have died in the name of the Lord, battered and bruised, but their faith looked beyond what is seen to the invincible presence and working of God.

Paul writes, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Faith looks beyond the physical and temporal to God with a certainty that holds far more credibility and assurance than the material world we live in. 

In this rapidly changing world, there are many fears, but God promises to be to us what we need for today. Though the battles and conflicts may be severe, our faith says, “Lord, You can rescue me physically out of this, and if You do, that’s great. But whether You do or You don’t is beside the point; You are doing something here.” That is the kind of faith written in the archives of heaven.

Dear Lord, I ask that You keep me humble and free from judging anyone. Give me an open heart, full of your love and compassion that I may pass onto others. Thank You, Lord.  

Has fear kept me from stepping out in faith?