Hebrews 11 Kind of Faith

There are parts of the Word that are richer and meatier than others. Hebrews 11 is one of them. There is so much to meditate on and I fear I can’t grasp it all. Ultimately the chapter is about faith. Faith: convinced something has happened or will happen even though we can’t see how. Faith can be played out in many ways:

-Believing the world was made by words.

-Offering a sacrifice out of obedience (Abel)

-Walking with God (Enoch)

-Building a boat for a never heard of flood (Noah)

-Leaving a birth country (Abraham)

-Making a temporal home in the new place (Abraham)

-Conceiving in old age (Sarah)

-Staying in a foreign country (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)

-Looking for a heavenly home (All)

-Holding on to faith until death (All)

Offering a son as a sacrifice (Abraham)

-Blessing sons (Isaac, Jacob)

-Speaking to future events like the Exodus (Joseph)

Each person exercising their faith looked different. Some had greater leaps, some shorter ones but faith was required in Isaac as with Noah.

“By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country: he lived in tents...”

Abraham made his home in the new place. He didn’t look back, he didn’t think of returning. He persevered until death. He lived like a stranger. He had an accent, he wasn’t completely meshed with those around him and thank God he wasn’t. It is natural for us to be different both physically and spiritually from those around us. He lived in tents. He didn’t have roots to this world, he was rooted to his eternal home. 

Abraham’s life sounds a bit like mine. I left my home. I’m not looking back from where I came. I’m a stranger here. I have an accent. I stick out and thank God I do. While I live here and I’ve made my home here, my ultimate roots are in another world. 

Shameless Persistence

I’ve become friends with a 12 year old girl here. She has decided she loves me and since it is summer time, she thinks she needs to spend all of her free time with me. So she calls and calls and messages and messages. She calls me EVERY. DAY. She calls me multiple times a day. I tell her I won’t be available for a few days and she calls anyway. One day last week she called me 8 times in a row in a 15 minute period and sent me 5 messages as well. 

I was at my wits end and went home to lodge all my complaints with the Lord. I asked God to help me love this little girl who was so irritating she was driving me crazy. Then that still small voice said, Candace, I wish you were this way with Me. How I would love for you to be so shamelessly persistent in prayer with Me. Have I not commanded you to be like the neighbor being shamelessly bold in asking for bread? (Lk 11:5-13) What about the widow who received justice because she was so persistent? (Lk 18:1-8) Have I not told you that unless you turn and become like a child you won’t enter my kingdom? (Mt 18:3) And you know what, I won’t ever get irritated with you. I won’t ignore your calls or avoid you. I won’t ever tell you I am unavailable or to try again later. 

So the Lord used this pestering little girl to rebuke me and remind me that I need to be more like her. And you know what, After the 8 phone calls, I ended up spending time with her that evening because we all know that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. May I be this squeaky wheel in my approach to God. 

When Death is Preferred

I was wanting a hug recently from my dad. This, of course, is impossible because we are separated by much land and water. I was reminded that unlike my dad, God won’t leave me or stay in another place. God won’t forsake me. He won’t grow weak, old, or die. He doesn’t diminish. I have God when I don’t have my dad and He is better.

This is all good news. But then I heard these words of a song:

“I tore the veil for you to come close

There’s no reason to stand at a distance anymore

You’re not far from home...

You’re almost home now...”

And once again, the distance, the physical separation. The nagging thought comes back in my head - “God is not enough. There is lack.”

Yes, there is separation but it won’t be forever. In death all things will be made right. But that line: I’m almost home, it’s not true, unless I’m soon to die. It will be a while before I can embrace God, walk hand in hand with him. Because of sin - I can’t walk in the garden with Him. But death, death means home. Death is no longer something to be feared but something to be embraced, to be longed for. This isn’t some kind of suicidal wish either. It’s the reality that death means eternal life and joy with Christ. It means a promotion to a world more glorious than our best days on earth. I feel like Paul sometimes:

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” - Phil 1:21-23

Today, at least, I can’t decide if I want death or life. Death means God, it means home, it means no lack or separation. Life means T’s get to hear about this Good News. Death is the key to eternal peace.

He Writes Our Stories

We all know the phrase, "happily married woman." I wonder if we could rephrase that to say, "happily singled woman." A happily married woman is someone content in her current role and not pining after singleness. So a happily singled woman would be someone content in her current role and not pining after marriage. A happily singled woman would have weighed the two options and found singleness to be the better choice for her. 

In general, I am a happily "singled" woman. At the moment, I see no possible husband on the horizon and this does not give me cause for panic. I really like my life and have found that the gifts singleness brings are great ones. This doesn't mean that I don't occasionally long for the other gift, marriage. I imagine my married friends also wish they had the freedoms of singleness from time to time. 

Recently, hearing the love story of how some friends met sent me down the longing-for-marriage path. That day, I felt the lack and wondered if I will ever have my own sweet story to tell. The Spirit reminded me that the Author who wrote their story was also writing mine. He is the best storyteller having already written the greatest story in the universe. This Author is still working on mine and if I could see the end of it and how it all unfolds, I know that I wouldn’t have any regrets. I would read it and know that it really was the best kind of a story. 

I remember back years ago when I wanted to marry a certain young man. He ended up marrying someone else and I was pretty devastated for a while. God had said no. From the vantage point of 12 years in the future, I don’t regret the no. What a full life I’ve had, a life I would not have had with him. I had a good career for 8 years, getting to do something I was good at and loved. I have also been able to travel. I’ve seen several beautiful seas, the Alps, and some really cool places in this foreign land that I have managed to make my home. I have even learned a new language. There are not many of my friends with this story.

So far, my story has been a good one. The Author knows best and will continue to write a beautiful story for me. I’m eager to see how my story continues to unfold. 

He Always Lives to Intercede

“Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” - Hebrews 7:25

This time around when I was reading this verse, the part about intercession jumped out at me. He ALWAYS LIVES to make intercession for us. This means there is always someone on our side. There is someone 24/7 who is watching out for us. Satan and/or condemnation will come at us telling us we’re guilty. Yet Jesus is always there to scream back, “NOT GUILTY! Her sins have been paid in full by my blood.” What good news this is. 

This makes me think of where I live. Muslims say they have an angel on their right and left shoulders. The right angel writes all of their good works down. The left angel writes all of their sins down. At the judgment, their good deeds and sins will be weighed. If the good outweighs the bad then probably they will go to heaven. There are certain things they believe they can do that will wipe out their sins up to the presence. If they go on the pilgrimage to Mecca, their sins up to the present will be wiped away. 

Often, my friends here say things like they wish I would become a Muslim or ask if I want to become one. As I think about the judgment and the weighing of sins and good works, I realize that Jesus’ way is far better. He has taken my past, present, and FUTURE sins. This is a big difference in what they believe. The left side of my scale is eternally empty. The right side is no longer filled with my filthy, bloody, good works. Instead, it has been filled with Jesus’ perfect righteousness. I can be certain I will go to Heaven. What glorious good news. 

Stars Shine Brighter in Dark Places

“Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine” - Valley of Vision

I often find myself wondering if anything I do here makes any difference. I wonder how one person can possibly make a dent in this sea of darkness. But then I thought about how I could see the stars from Kadie's city much easier than I can from mine simply because as a small town, it is much darker there. I remembered that a match in a cave lights up the whole place. Light shines brighter in the darkest places. 

I see this play out sometimes here. Recently a man recounted to my friend H how he remembers watching him be tender with his daughter and how that act of tenderness has resonated with him over and over for years. Someone else told my friend L that she has bragged on their family over and over to others about the ways they are thoughtful and listen to others. We have no idea what our seemingly insignificant words and actions are causing to happen under the surface of someone’s heart. We can’t see the behind the scenes activity. I think if we could, our minds would be blown.