Dear Sissy,
I "hope" this finds you settling into your new school year. I know you are working hard to settle into a good routine and staying caught up with your classwork. I also "hope" that my last letter about Hope was encouraging to you.
As I was writing my letter last week, I was reminded of how hope is intertwined with the idea of faith. In fact, Hebrews 11 is a very famous passage in the Bible that talks about faith. The author opens up the chapter with this verse: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." That is a pretty powerful statement. It tells us that faith is the realization of the things we put our hope in. It essentially conveys the idea that there is a CERTAINTY to God's promises and a CONFIDENCE in God's power to make these things happen.
In verse 3 we see that faith allows us to understand God's purposes and designs; "by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible." It first tells us that the things that we see didn't come into their own without being created. This in turn reminds us that when things happen that we can't initially understand (or like) we can trust that God is in control of the situation.
As you go through the next several verses in Hebrews 11 you see that this faith was active in people's lives. This faith allowed people to act on God's promises. Noah built an ark in the desert. Abraham left his family to wander in the desert. Sarah had a baby when she was nearly 90. Then you learn in verse 26 that Moses did crazy things acting on God's promises. The author states that Moses "passed the pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt." Because of faith, Joseph gave up the easy life because he believed that Christ was more valuable.
Finally in Hebrews 11:29-38 you read how many others overcame incredible odds in walking out their faith. They faced lions, the sword, fire, and many other temptations and afflictions. Their faith gave them the confidence that the things they hoped in (namely God's promises and the person of Jesus) would deliver them from their circumstances and trials.
So what are we to do with this incredible reminder of how important our faith is? First, we need to live with the same confidence that God's promises are real. We need to live with the certainty that He will do what He says He will do. We need to esteem Christ above all. We need to believe that He will help us overcome obstacles. And we need to do what the author of Hebrews 11 exhorts us to do in Hebrews 12:1-2:
"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith..."
Running the race with you,
Daddy
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