BETWEEN FAITH AND FOOLISHNESS

BETWEEN FAITH AND FOOLISHNESS!

Heb 11:1-2

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.

The Amplified New Testament puts it this way: “[faith is] the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality.”

           One thing is certain and that is that I can never be certain of my own abilities to bring about the things I “hope for.” I can’t produce success just because I am cocksure. Jesus was pretty clear about being properly and adequately prepared in Luke 14:31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?”

           The heroes in Hebrews 11 all had a quality we know as “faith.” The writer begins at creation and moves through the entire Bible. Abraham left his homeland in search of a new home with no more direction than that God would show it to him in due time. Moses left the luxury and privilege of Egypt to associate himself with the sufferings of Jewish slaves and thereby positioned himself to lead them away from slavery. Joshua marched around a walled city believing that the walls would fall down. David went against a giant with only a sling and a few stones believing that he would be victorious. All seemed foolish until the story was done.

           But these heroes had one more thing that made them confident and that was a promise. Each one believed that God would do exactly what He said He would do and that is the essence of faith. The word “promise” in some form appears eighteen times in Hebrews and seven times in this one chapter alone. In verse 11 Abraham and Sarah were able to have a child “because she judged him faithful who had promised.”

           Dr. Charles Stanley says “Faith is not a power we tap into. Faith is not a lasso we slip around God's neck to force our will on His. Faith is not a button we push to prod God into action. Faith is confidence that God will do what He has promised.”

Dear Lord, help me to know and remember your promises so that I will not confuse foolishness with faith. AMEN