Living By Faith

"The righteous will live by faith." says Habakkuk 2:4

and Romans 1:17

and Galatians 3:11

and Hebrews 10:38.

God used a short comment in Sunday's sermon from Steve Mozingo, one of our church's beloved teaching elders, to spark a whole train of thought for me.  The whole message was good (you can find Steve's sermons on sermonaudio.com), but it was one particular comment that ignited an especially revolutionary idea for me.

Faith is no spectator sport

The text was Acts 11, and speaking of verses 19-24, Steve commented that this record—of how these Christians were preaching, how God’s hand was with them, how considerable numbers were brought to the Lord—was not preserved just so we could say, “Now, that’s a really great story.”  We need to understand that we are meant to be participants in this, too.  “Get in the game!” he said.  

And that is the part I can't stop thinking about.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that we tend to think, as we read the Biblical record, “Wow, that was really amazing how those people obeyed and trusted God.  And, wow, how God worked in their  situation!”  But then, too much of the time, even though we wouldn’t actually articulate it, we live as though we think, “ . . . but that wouldn’t happen in my world, and it would never happen to me.”

This could be you

When we read about the people in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith, do we actually dare to think that God might use us like He used them?  I don’t mean in a prideful kind of way, but in a way that sees God for as big as He really is—and in a way that realizes that those "heroes" of the faith were just as ordinary as we are.  That’s the point James makes about Elijah in James 5:17, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours . . .”  There was nothing extraordinary about those people; the God they chose to trust was the extraordinary one.

Have you ever even dared to think that God might use you to be the means of deliverance for people, as he used Moses?  Have you ever thought that, like Abel (Hebrews 11:4), your faith might still speak to inspire others years and years and years after you’re gone?  Have you ever dared to think that your obedience and faith might be catalogued with those in Hebrews 11?  Why should it not be?  The record of their faith wasn’t put there to set them apart or on a pedestal, but instead to give us an example of what is possible if we are willing to remember that He is coming, and to not shrink back, but to lay aside encumbrances and sin—and then RUN with our eyes on Jesus—believing God!  (Hebrews 10:36-39 and 12:1-3)  The call of Hebrews 12 is not that we should bow in awe before those who've gone before us, but that we join them in faith in their God, who is also our God! 

To dare to think these things is not to be prideful, but is a recognition that this life and our impact isn’t about us or our abilities.  It’s only about who God is!  We simply trust Him, obey, and be willing to be used by Him.

We were made for this

The life of faith is what we were made for.  God never meant for us to read the accounts of those who lived lives of faith simply for our entertainment.  We aren’t meant only to be observers of other people's faith.  Right in the midst of the list of faith-filled examples is a riveting statement that applies to every one of us.  

"And without faith it is impossible to please Him,

and he who comes to God must believe that is He,

and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Hebrews 11:6

If we can't picture ourselves with those in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith, if a vibrant life of faith seems an unattainable impossibility, could it be that we don’t know our God well enough?

Oh, I want to know and trust Him more!