FAITH MEANS I TRUST IN GOD’S PROMISES.

All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. Hebrews 11:39-40 (NLT)

It’s not easy to live by faith. We live in a broken world. When God sent the first humans away from the garden, he warned them that life would be hard and painful. And it is. There’s a painful conflict going on in the world and inside of every person. The weather can be dangerous. Our bodies fail us. Our relationships get sick. You battle with your own selfish nature. You also battle with the powers of darkness, which “steal, kill, and destroy.” And sometimes the negative forces in life really get to us. We just want to give up. But in Hebrews 11, God urges us to hang on. God hasn’t forgotten us, and God will fulfill his promises in good time. God promises to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). God promises to take away our tears (Revelation 7:17). And God speaks many other promises throughout the Bible. Hebrews 11 mentions a variety of Bible heroes who demonstrated faith in God’s promises: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Rahab and David, just to name a few. Though they endured many difficulties, they kept living a life of faith. Then Hebrews 11:39-40 says: All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. When you feel like giving up, remember the heroes of the Bible and imitate their faith. In time, your faith and theirs will be recognized, and all the children of God will reach perfection together.