Trusting God with a future I cannot see is hard enough. Trusting God with a future that stands in questions is even harder still. When life is going well, it is fairly easy to trust God with your life. You like where you are, you are fine to stay where you are. Life is theoretically “good.” However, trusting God when each step is difficult, when your strength is waning and when your knees are feeble gets a bit more difficult.
As Christians though, it is so easy to loose sight of the hope that we have found; a hope that never fades and surpasses all things. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.”
Wow, that’s hard. When I think about my life, there are few things I am sure of. I am sure I will get paid every other week, as long as I have my job, because the money is automatically deposited into my bank account. I am also sure it will rain at some point, however, I am not completely sure when. (Then again neither are the weather men, so I guess I am off the hook on that one.)
In this life though, there are even fewer things I am certain of. I am certain that my cable, water and rent bill will arrive each month. I am certain I will, at one point in my life, pass away and go to be with my Savior.
But I can tell you with ALL certainty this is definitely not what the writer of Hebrews was calling us to be “sure” and “certain” of. Those things I listed above are things that mean nothing. In fact, those are the very things in life that do not matter. Scripture tells us in Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…”
Okay, so let’s regroup here. If that list above is what immediately comes to mind as things I am sure and certain of in my life, I need a serious change in focus. However, as walking, talking, thinking, intelligent human beings, being sure of something that we have no understanding of is completely against our nature. That is where is becomes all about faith.
So what does faith look like in that scenario and in the context of our everyday lives? Well, I love the example the writer of Hebrews gives as an example of true faith in action. Not only that, but we see the life changing result that not only trusting God brings, but the life change that will come about when we become “certain’ of what we cannot see.
Notice the word I chose there, the life change that will come about. It is not a question of whether faith will or will not change your life, it is simply a matter of when. Abraham knows that with all certainty because his life was certainly changed by his faith.
Hebrews 11:8 shows us exactly how. “By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” I love this verse. Why? Because it gives such a clear picture of what putting our faith in an unseen God looks like. God promised Abraham great things. God promises all his children great things. Granted, we have no idea what that looks like but then again, neither did Abraham. What is awesome about this verse though was Abraham’s response. He obeyed. He went. Pure and simple. No questions asked.
I don’t know about you, but I would have had some mighty big questions for God. Starting with, “God, why not here? This land seems fine to me. Why should I go tromping around into unknown, enemy territory when my family and I are just fine where we are.” Honestly, it would have been tough to pack up my entire family (and we are not talking about five or even ten people here) but my whole clan to go to a land I know nothing about.
This is the control freak coming out in me. I like to know where I am headed, what it’s going to look like, and knowing I am fully prepared for anything that might come my way. Granted, I understand this is not what God had in mind when he called me to “trust” in Him, but now you see my horrible frailty coming through. I don’t like to step out into an area that I cannot see two inches ahead of me.
Abraham didn’t respond this way. In fact, his response was the very antithesis of my own. Abrahams was more like “You say go Lord, and I am going.” Okay, so now I have a question for Abraham. How the heck did you do it? What was going on in your mind that made you willing to step out in faith as you did?
Well, actually I already know. Abraham knew with the very depths of his heart what it looked like to be “sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” just as verse one calls us to do.
This is only illustrated further in verse ten of the same chapter as we see Abraham’s state of mind as he willingly stepped out in faith. ”For he was looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God.”
Oh…now I see. Abraham realized what I quickly forget. Abraham had a heavenly vision, not an earthly one. He understood it wasn’t about the land or his surroundings at all. In fact, it was about something far greater than his comprehension. It was about God being the builder and architect of his life.
You see, when we are willing to step out into the unknown, into an uncertain future and into plans we know nothing about, we are leaving everything to the Lord. Abraham knew this was an opportunity to let God build everything from the ground up. It was trust God or… bust. There was nothing else to hold on to but the Lord.
I pray I adopt the same mentality. When God calls me into an unknown land; a land of fear, questions and frutrations; I pray that I step into his direction looking forward to what God is going to build in my life through this very moment. It is going to be something entirely of his making and nothing of my own. The result will be covered from dirt to ceiling with his fingerprints evident to all that this was of the Lord’s building. It leaves room for God to be the great and master builder that he is. And whatever God builds cannot ever be torn down. That is the kind of life I want to live.
In the end, Abraham’s descendants found out the blessings the Lord wants to bestow on his people who are willing trust in him as Abraham was. They found themselves living in a land “flowing with milk and honey.” Abraham could have stayed in the land that he knew. However, if he had, he would have missed the tremendous blessing God had waiting for him on the other end of the “unknown.”
There is another option here. We don’t have to choose what Abraham chose to do and trust in the Lord’s plans. We see this take place in Numbers as the Israelites were following Moses through the desert waiting to get to the promise land. The Rebenites and Gadites decided they were tired of waiting. They also decided that the land that they could see in front of them was “good enough.” They were willing to settle and not wait for God’s promise to be fulfilled. They were tired of not knowing where they were going and decided heck with waiting. In Numbers 32:1 it says this, “The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock…”
Now see, there’s the problem. The land was simply “suitable” and they could see that with their very own eyes. They decided that the land in front of them was sufficient and they were okay with not waiting for God to fulfill his promise to them. They lost sight of what Hebrews calls us to do: to be “sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.” They weren’t sure any more and they certainly weren’t certain. If they were, they would have been willing to wait on God knowing that what the Lord had promised them would surely be fulfilled. Somewhere during their time wandering in the desert, they lost sight of that. (Understandably, to a point. The desert has a way of clouding our heavenly vision for sure.)
The leaders of these clans then went to Moses and presented their case. They asked that this land in front of them be their inheritance, that they build their towns and cities here and forgo the land that would have been given to them by the Lord.
Moses was not a fan of their idea but agreed on one condition. They could not leave the rest of the Israelites to fight the upcoming battles on the other side of the Jordan by themselves. The men of the Reubenite and Gadite clans would be required to cross the Jordan and help them fight their battles, but once the war had been won, they would be free to return to the land that they now set foot on. Seems kind of stupid doesn’t it? Yes you are going to continue to fight. Yes, you are going to help us win the battle. But then you can go back to the land that is going to be not as good as the land the Lord just gave you in victory. Totally a great idea! (Or not.)
Still, the agreement was made. It was decided. The Reubenites and Gadites didn’t want to wait any longer. They forgot that they God that went before them was not only worth waiting for, but his promises were guaranteed. They gave up their inheritance in the promise land. These men forgot that with the Lord, it is not a matter of if, but when. It is only the Lord’s timing that remains uncertain.
So on the day the Lord brought about a great victory and the Israelites marched into the promise land, and as Moses handed out the Lord’s inheritance to his people, the Reubenites and Gadites marched back to the other side of the Jordan. Numbers 34: 12-15 says this, “The Lord has ordered that (the promised land) be given to the nine and a half tribes, because the families of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan…”
This verse makes me sad. Can you imagine being those men. What do you go back and tell your families when they come running out to greet you? ”Oh yes, we saw the land. And the land was everything God promised. It was amazing. But we decided we didn’t want to wait for the Lord and that this land was “good enough.” We wish we would have remained steadfast in being “sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.” Uhhh… not a pleasant conversation to have.
Then again, isn’t that why we are called to do just as Hebrews 11:1 says. Live like you are SURE of what God will do and the hope that we have because after all, it is guaranteed! We are called to live in CERTAINTY knowing the path that lies ahead is held securely in the hands of our Heavenly Father.
This is really the only thing in this life we can be certain of. In fact, it is the only thing in life worth being certain of. What if I loose my job tomorrow? I am no longer sure that my paycheck will show up in the bank. In fact, then I can be certain it won’t.
So as I have worked on this perspective adjustment, today I am not going to let the winds of the desert and fears of the unknown interfere with my faith as I strive to be “sure” of what I hope for and “certain” of what I do not see.” I am sure that the plans God has for me are good just as Jeremiah 29:11 promises. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
And I am certain the hope that I have in the Lord, though he is unseen, will never fail just as 2 Corinthians 4:18 says – So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
Well, I am glad I have my certainties in line now…