So, what does it really mean to live by faith? According to our author, it means being sure of things we hope for but do not yet see. And that was certainly the case for the many people mentioned in chapter 11.

Take Noah, for example. God told him to do something that didn’t make any sense at all: to build a big, watertight box and fill it with all sorts of animals. And why? Because a big storm was coming: a storm so big that it would not only cause the ark to float, but flood the whole world. Noah had never seen anything like that before, and had no reason to believe that it was even possible. And yet he built the ark and summoned the animals because he trusted God. And as a result, he and his family and all those animals were saved.

So, what about Abraham? God made some mighty big promises to him too. God told him that his descendants would inherit the land where Abraham was living as more or less an unwelcome refugee. Oh, and God kept promising him that he and his wife Sarah would have as many descendants as the sand on the seashore. But Abraham trusted God and His promises, even though by the time Abraham died, all the land he owned was a graveyard plot, and he only had one son.

So, what about us? Which of God’s promises are you having a hard time trusting Him to keep today? Maybe you don’t feel like you’re experiencing the abundant life Jesus talked about (John 10:10). Maybe, as you wrestle with addictions or besetting sins, you don’t feel much like you’ve been freed from sin’s power (Romans 6:6-7). Maybe you feel so broken, so messed up that you can’t imagine Jesus would ever want to welcome you into His presence (John 6:37).

But remember: faith isn’t about already having whatever it is that God has promised us. It’s about trusting God even when things don’t make sense or don’t feel right. So, just as Abraham had to wait 25 years for the child God promised him, and just as it took Noah who knows how long to build that big ark, our job is to keep on trusting God, no matter how long it might take Him to keep His promises – and even if we never see those promises kept in our own lifetimes.

So, will we trust God to bless us in His way and in His time? Or will we insist on having everything our way right now?

Hebrews 11:1-16 (NASB)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 For by it the men of old gained approval.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised;
12 therefore, also, there was born of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.