on Faith

I’ve always liked to read Hebrews 11 :29-40. Most people know what Hebrews 11 is about. Faith. Now here’s an overview of this passage (Hb. 11:29-35a))
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land… By faith the walls of Jericho fell… By faith the prostitute Rahab… was not killed… who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice and gained what was promised… 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…
The victories of the faith! Through faith, God does marvellous things and even though we’re weak and have no ability to bring about changes or accomplish such miraculous things. By faith God does great things.
Now let’s see the overview of the rest of the passage (Hb. 11:35b-38)
(By faith)… Others were tortured and refused to be released… 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… They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
On one hand we are told that God will do great things by the faith of His children. On the other hand, we are told that by that same faith, people went through extreme suffering, poverty and persecution.
Maybe we are called to experience both. Or maybe if we experience one of the two, the other one will come as a result… I don’t know, that’s not what it says anyway. I like this passage because it reminds me that living by faith on earth won’t bring me pleasures and victories over victories all the time. It won’t grant me success and always keep me safe, providing me with clothes and a roof over my head. To live by faith won’t change the world’s mind about me and make people love me. Yes God in His will, does awesome things through our faith, but we can’t believe that half-truth, and we can’t preach it either. Often I hear that the gospel we offer will bring an end to everybody’s problems and will make them successful and accepted. That’s wrong, that’s not the gospel of Jesus Christ. To live by faith, to obey God in all He calls us to, will yes, allow God to work great things for us, but we must not forget that those who live by faith will go through suffering as well.
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (II Tim 3:12) I sometimes wondered about this. It seems like I live at peace here in my Canada and I am a Christian and I live a generally godly life… so what’s wrong? This verse or my view of godliness and faith in Jesus? No need to answer the question. I wonder if I really know what Jesus means when He says that I must carry my own cross and follow Him (Lk 9:23). I believe that God grants peace to His children when it pleases Him, but to live my everyday life around unbelievers and never be rejected for Christ or accepted and see people come to the faith, then… I wonder if that “peace” is from God. Not making any impact on other people’s thinking about Jesus, being of a good smell or a smell of death to them makes me believe that we are at “peace” with all, but aren’t fulfilling God’s purpose for us, or not allowing Him to work through our faith. That’s maybe why I am not persecuted. It may be why we live in such a “peace” here in North America, because we aren’t much different than our neighbors, we live in ways that will keep us at peace and comfortable. I’m not saying that we should all be persecuted and put in prison as a result of our faith. Yes, it is true for numbers of faithful believers in the world, but I mean that maybe we should act much more different than our fellow country people. In the way we live our daily lives, what kind of possessions we have, what we do with our money, what kind of reaction we have when people around us say stuff against our Savior, people should all know we are Christians… We can’t compromise our “Christian” lives and live half in the world and half in the Lord and try not to make any waves because we’re scared of what will happen to us or we don’t know what to say or etc. that’s not living by faith at all. That’s doubting the power of God, that He is able to rescue us and put words into our mouths.
I say all that, but you would not find me acting it out very much. It’s much easier to step back and be at peace with the world, to laugh when everyone laugh instead of speaking up against the joke or the bad talks. I don’t know if what I wrote goes well with the passage… As we strive to obey God and live godly lives by faith, we shall go through lots of difficulties, but we’ll see neat things as well. If we don’t, well let’s still be strong and remain faithful, reminding ourselves of our father in the faith, Abraham.
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their won. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return. Instead they were looking for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, he has prepared a city for them.” (Hb. 11:13-16) “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them receive what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hb 11:39, 40)

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