Hebrews 11:8-22 {Lesson 11/Day 7}

My idea of hope and faith have been linked for a long time with waiting for God and believing that the thing I was longing for would eventually happen if I was faithful and if it was His will – one or both of those had to be true. I had hope and faith in God to heal my husband and marriage. I had hope to have more children. I hoped for my dad to be healed. If these things didn’t happen either I hadn’t been really faithful or it wasn’t God’s will. I clung to verses like “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” And while this verse is true – it’s true because it’s axiomatic. It’s not true in the sense that I’ll eventually get my desires fulfilled – and won’t that be a lovely feeling? It’s true only in the sense that my longing heart really is sick while I wait. Two things happened that began to tighten up my view of faith and hope. The first was not getting really good things that I had prayerfully, faithfully, and with great hope longed for – I didn’t get more children and my dad went Home never cured of multiple sclerosis. Even writing those words in this moment brings me great sadness. My longings in those areas remain unfulfilled. The second thing that happened – and that has been more of a process and not a specific point in time – is a getting a better understanding of what God means by faith and hope. Abraham? Sarah? Isaac? Jacob? Joseph? – “all died in faith not having received the things promised.” Yet, here they are as paragons of faith – shouldn't they have received all their promises? Did they die heart-sick not getting their desires fulfilled? No. They died in faith knowing that “he who promised” would be faithful. It’s not that God was their waiter serving up their desires on a platter. Instead, they had the right understanding of God whose thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways His ways. That understanding changed me. Wanting a lot of children? A great thought! Wanting my dad to be healed? Also wonderful. Why wouldn’t God want that for me? I don’t know, but He didn’t...that’s where faith comes in. I look around and don’t see the world in subjection to Him, but I still see Him. I consider Him. I have faith in Him. I don’t let go and live a with no hope, but I look beyond the timing of my hope and remember that God’s ways aren’t mine any more than His timing is. I consider Him faithful. My hope looks to Him, and that’s beyond what I may or may not get in this life. That’s where I am in my understanding of faith and hope. I pray continually for growth and better understanding. I don’t know what is on your hope list today, but I pray that at the top of it is “I see Him.” Your heart may be sick at the thought of not getting what you are longing for. Your eyes may be pouring over with tears of sadness at the thought of your longing never being realized. But you will see Him, and that longing will be fulfilled and that will be a tree of life.