5 Minute Read
Prepare Your Heart
To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.
Read God’s Word
A Verse for Today
Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.
Hebrews 11:38 (CSB): “The world was not worthy of them…”
Reflecting on God’s Word
When we read Hebrews 11:1, we see that faith is trusting in God and/or His Word so strongly that we already enjoy the blessing before it comes. In Hebrews 11:6, we realize that if we aren’t living by faith, our actions aren’t pleasing to the Lord. So, faith enables both us and God to smile.
However, as we read the chapter, we may come to the erroneous conclusion that faith always brings about pleasant things. After all, many of our charismatic friends believe that if you have enough faith, you won’t have to go through trials and difficulties. Many of them believe in “faith healings,” falsely believing that the full work of the atonement is to be enjoyed in this broken world.
But as we read Hebrews 11, we see a clear dividing line in the middle of Hebrews 11:35. It is so obvious that virtually every reader will catch it. On the front end of the divide, faith is rewarded with pleasant, victorious results. But on the back half of the divide, faith is rewarded with the ability to endure even under horrific circumstances.
See if you can find the dividing line between where faith results in pleasant outcomes and where faith enables the God-follower to endure. The following passage starts with faith-filled people who experienced victories, then shifts in an instant to those who endured horrible trauma.
Hebrews 11:33-38 (CSB): “who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead, raised to life again. Other people were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.”
We like the first half of the previous passage. We want to believe that trusting the Lord and/or His promises will lead to wonderful outcomes! But the truth is that God often allows us to trust in Him to endure what can only be described as horrific difficulties or even injustices.
It is in the latter cases that we realize that this is a Genesis 3 world where bad things happen and evil often prevails. But there is a Finish Line that we will cross when we breathe our last breath. As a believer, we will be with Jesus forever. That’s what we rest in. We trust that the Lord is working all things for our good and His glory, and we trust that we will one day, sooner than we may realize, be with Him forever. It is those sorts of biblical convictions that enable us to endure.
And it’s precisely this mindset that enabled Jesus to endure as well. Just listen to the following verses and see if you can observe what Jesus focused upon and trusted in to get Him through the trauma of His crucifixion.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (CSB): “Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Friend, get into God’s Word. Learn even more about who He is and what He has said. Pray bold prayers and trust in Him and His Word. It may be that God graciously gives you the ability to experience some wonderful results as you rest in Him.
But what we deem pleasant isn’t always going to happen. Sometimes, it is God’s will to send or allow some really unpleasant things, maybe even horrible things, into our lives. Do we stop trusting Him during those seasons? Of course, not. We trust that He knows what He’s doing even if we don’t. And we find some of His precious promises and rest our faith upon them. We discover that trusting in Him and His words will give us strength, wisdom, and so much more in this life. And we rest in His promise that we will be with Him one day, never to experience the consequences of living in a sin-sick world ever again.
So, regardless of what God has in store for us, we should trust Him.
And if life gets really bad and you continue to trust in Him anyway, realize that Hebrews 11:38 is speaking about YOU!
Hebrews 11:38 (CSB): “The world was not worthy of them…”
Spend Time in Prayer
- Ask God to give you the grace to trust Him more, whether He sends pleasant things your way or allows you to go through “the valley of the shadow of death.”
Going Deeper
If you want to dig a little deeper into the importance of faith, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:
“What did Jesus mean when He told people, ‘Your faith has made you well’?”
Sharing
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Matt Ellis is the pastor of White Hall Baptist Church in Richmond, Kentucky (whitehallbaptistchurch.org)
Matt’s Musings 