This afternoon I am reading Hebrews 11...the chapter that talks about faith. I read this portion of the chapter and then thought about the faith teachings in our day. Here's the verses that caught my attention and then let's talk...
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11:32-40 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, 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. 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. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death 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, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
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Clearly, all of those listed were men and women of faith, but what caught my attention is that many of these people, who were credited with faith, did not see good results from their faith. Faith, God's kind of faith, did not deliver them from chains, flogging, jeers, stoning and the sword. These are not good things, but they all made the list of those who had the kind of faith that pleases God. It's clear that God's not focused on the results of our faith, but with the object of our faith. It's our faith in God, regardless of the results, that pleases him. It's also interesting to me that we, in our time, would consider them faith failures, but God gave them an A+ on the faith report card. It's not the results of our faith that pleases God, but the object. Trusting God is the theme of this chapter. Results are secondary in God's mind. What he's looking for is faith in him, not to get something, but to trust him no matter what I get out of it. I'm fascinated that men and women who are pleasing to God because of their faith would be considered faith failures in our Christian world today. Many very sincere Christians would have told them, "if you only had enough faith...." But in their apparent failure they won God's A+. Maybe there is something wrong with how we are viewing the faith that pleases God.
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