Challenge: Eternal Faith

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Oh how many things have been preached, taught, and emphasized about faith, many based on this very verse! I’ve frequently struggled with faith as I’ve encountered people who have approached faith on any level of extreme from “if I believe it, it will happen” to “if I ask outside of God’s will, it’s not faith, so I won’t even ask” and everything in between. Where is truth?

As I have slowly poured through Hebrews 10 and 11, I have realized one of my issues with faith. I try to connect faith to the temporal. I’m not through Hebrews 11 yet, but based on both my memory of previous studying and on what I’ve read so far this time, I think it’s safe to say that the author of Hebrews is connecting each of these examples of faith to eternal things, not temporal.

There are things I’d love to have. But, where are my desires rooted? Are they rooted in what God has promised, or are they rooted in my own temporal desires? Do I desire stuff, events, or orchestrations of life simply because they would make things easier and more pleasurable for me, or because God has placed those desires in my life so as to more greatly fulfill His ultimate plan?

The latter is what I see in Hebrews 11. Now, were the motives of each of these heroes of the faith always pure? No! We can see that clearly with a read through the Old Testament. But, the desires mentioned were from God, and perfect hope in them was available.

It’s so hard sometimes to see how to apply this, but I think I know where I need to start. I think I need to start with a daily evaluation of what I hope for. Is what I hope for based on an eternal home or this temporal one? Is it based on furthering God’s kingdom or making my own more comfortable and pleasurable? I desire to begin hoping for a country of my own (Heb 11:14). I hunger to truly learn what it means to live by this faith.