A Study on the Book of Hebrews

^“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:32-40

“Faith does not exempt us from overwhelming problems, but rather it often leads us into such problems. Moses had not led them to the dire situation that they were in; God had led them there and He had hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would chase after them. So by God’s direct actions, this defenseless bunch of slaves had the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh’s army charging at them from behind. They were doomed unless God intervened, which He planned to do. But they had to learn that salvation is completely from Him. God led them into this desperate situation to teach them to trust Him as their only option. That’s how God grows our faith. We know in our heads that we must trust Him totally, but we don’t believe it in practice until He throws us into situations where there is no way out if He does not act. We need to learn in experience that “salvation belongs to the Lord” (A note from Charles Spurgeon, Ps 3:8).

It is the most difficult aspect of our faith to understand – that faith does not only lead us from trouble (which often it does) but can and will often lead us into trouble. Just because we have strong faith does not mean our lives will be a rose garden. Just ask anyone who has lived a life of faith – they will share their blessing stories with you – but they will also share their desert stories as well. As we hear often, faith is not believing only in what we can see – but believing in what we cannot see – and yet trust with our whole heart.

Pastor Dave