Hebrews 11 has been a meditation piece of mine for the past week or so. It's one of the more iconic passages of Scripture; pastors love to teach on it, pointing out all the amazing heroes of the faith, tying them into the beginning of the following chapter, to the "great cloud of witnesses" who are cheering us on as we run our race.
I think basically everyone who ever reads that passage gets caught up in thinking, "wow, these people really had their life together. I'm supposed to live up to that?" I've thought that too until just recently.
It's interesting . . . if you know the original stories of the people found in that chapter, you know it actually wasn't all that spiritual and holy and righteous as Hebrews 11 makes it sound. Take, for example, what it has to say about Sarah.
"By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised." (vs. 11)
"Judged Him faithful"? Sarah laughed in denial at the promise, from what I remember (Gen. 18:1-15).
Or what about Moses?
"By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible." (vs. 27)
Um, Moses fled Egypt because he was afraid. He had just murdered a slave driver and once word spread of the crime, he fled for his life to the desert (Ex. 2:11-15).
And one more example for good measure - the children of Israel.
"By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned." (vs. 29)
When they discovered the Egyptians had tracked them down and they were caught at the sea, the Israelites were freaking mad, right? They accused Moses of purposely leading them to their death, and gave into despair and fear (Ex. 14:10-12).
The dichotomies between the real-life accounts versus the stories told in this chapter of faith make me wonder that, perhaps God thinks of and remembers our stories differently from what we feel and think while we're going through the banality of life?
Maybe in the midst of the despair and hard questioning - He keeps track of the fact that you still directed your questions to Him even though you didn't understand, not your doubtful thoughts.
Maybe in the midst of the sin and shame - He remembers that you still had the boldness to look to His face and seek out His mercy and forgiveness, once again.
Maybe, when you're kicking and screaming in the fight of surrender, He might be chuckling to Himself, too excited to see your face once He's calmed you down long enough to see and receive a greater treasure He can't wait to delight you with.
Or when you're in the thick of spiritual warfare and you're so numb, you just end up standing there, not having another ounce of strength left to keep going? Maybe He just likes the fact that you recognize you're weak, unlike you, badgering yourself about being weak in the first place.
Anything viewed from an earthly perspective can look and feel pretty bleak. We give in to worry, doubt, fear, temptation, addictions. We get angry for no reason. We get frustrated with our inability to figure things out on our own. We get impatient and sometimes make stupid decisions. We careen around in life, and when we finally chill out long enough to see what is going on around us, our eyes open to just how self-destructively we can handle ourselves. We wonder how in the world God can turn our stories around, how exactly He plans to complete the good work He's already begun.
Thankfully, God operates from a heavenly perspective, and sees us in a complete opposite light than how we view ourselves. He is our Father, and delights in calling you His child and treating you as such. He is creating, probing, molding. He doesn't give up on you. He doesn't get discouraged by our humanity.
No matter the circumstance, in the midst of the weird confusion - we can rest ourselves in the fact that He's up to something good. All He calls us to do is love and live in Him. The rest is in His court. He is faithful, He is good, and He can be trusted. He is making all things new.
I think basically everyone who ever reads that passage gets caught up in thinking, "wow, these people really had their life together. I'm supposed to live up to that?" I've thought that too until just recently.
It's interesting . . . if you know the original stories of the people found in that chapter, you know it actually wasn't all that spiritual and holy and righteous as Hebrews 11 makes it sound. Take, for example, what it has to say about Sarah.
"By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised." (vs. 11)
"Judged Him faithful"? Sarah laughed in denial at the promise, from what I remember (Gen. 18:1-15).
Or what about Moses?
"By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible." (vs. 27)
Um, Moses fled Egypt because he was afraid. He had just murdered a slave driver and once word spread of the crime, he fled for his life to the desert (Ex. 2:11-15).
And one more example for good measure - the children of Israel.
"By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned." (vs. 29)
When they discovered the Egyptians had tracked them down and they were caught at the sea, the Israelites were freaking mad, right? They accused Moses of purposely leading them to their death, and gave into despair and fear (Ex. 14:10-12).
The dichotomies between the real-life accounts versus the stories told in this chapter of faith make me wonder that, perhaps God thinks of and remembers our stories differently from what we feel and think while we're going through the banality of life?
Maybe in the midst of the despair and hard questioning - He keeps track of the fact that you still directed your questions to Him even though you didn't understand, not your doubtful thoughts.
Maybe in the midst of the sin and shame - He remembers that you still had the boldness to look to His face and seek out His mercy and forgiveness, once again.
Maybe, when you're kicking and screaming in the fight of surrender, He might be chuckling to Himself, too excited to see your face once He's calmed you down long enough to see and receive a greater treasure He can't wait to delight you with.
Or when you're in the thick of spiritual warfare and you're so numb, you just end up standing there, not having another ounce of strength left to keep going? Maybe He just likes the fact that you recognize you're weak, unlike you, badgering yourself about being weak in the first place.
Anything viewed from an earthly perspective can look and feel pretty bleak. We give in to worry, doubt, fear, temptation, addictions. We get angry for no reason. We get frustrated with our inability to figure things out on our own. We get impatient and sometimes make stupid decisions. We careen around in life, and when we finally chill out long enough to see what is going on around us, our eyes open to just how self-destructively we can handle ourselves. We wonder how in the world God can turn our stories around, how exactly He plans to complete the good work He's already begun.
Thankfully, God operates from a heavenly perspective, and sees us in a complete opposite light than how we view ourselves. He is our Father, and delights in calling you His child and treating you as such. He is creating, probing, molding. He doesn't give up on you. He doesn't get discouraged by our humanity.
No matter the circumstance, in the midst of the weird confusion - we can rest ourselves in the fact that He's up to something good. All He calls us to do is love and live in Him. The rest is in His court. He is faithful, He is good, and He can be trusted. He is making all things new.
1 comment:
I totally agree with you when you wrote
" perhaps God thinks of and remembers our stories differently from what we feel and think while we're going through the banality of life?"
Love this post.
thisfavoredwoman.blogspot.com
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