Last Saturday, in Remembered No More, we took a look at some of the stories that were NOT included in Hebrews 11 and concluded that because we follow God, He remembers our failures … NO MORE! I thought God was finished speaking to me from Hebrews 11, but apparently not…
But before we go on, we are taught that faith is the missing element when God doesn’t answer our prayers. Jesus Himself hinted at this. His disciples had tried—and failed!—to cast a demon out of a boy. Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith: “Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” (Mark 9:19 NLT), and then He proceeded to cast out the demon. Doesn’t this mean that when we don’t have what we ask for, it is because of a lack of faith?
I, for one, have long believed this, and my prayer is constantly to have more faith.
This is why I am a bit surprised at three and a half verses towards the end of Hebrews 11. After listing so many heroes of faith and how they were rescued, protected, healed, etc. as a result of their faith, suddenly the story changes… “But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.” (Vs. 35b-38 NLT).
Wait. These people are being commended for their faith, but they weren’t delivered! They weren’t healed! They weren’t protected! If their faith was big enough to put them in the Faith Chapter of the Bible, shouldn’t it have been big enough to have saved their lives??? Yet the answer lies in Vs. 35c: “They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.” (NLT)!
Yes, this would explain why we don’t always get what we ask for when we take a step in faith!
Take, for example, the time I found a lump on my body that wasn’t supposed to be there. God promised me it would be okay, and I took a stand in faith. That lump would disappear before it could even be diagnosed as cancer! Nonetheless, it didn’t disappear, and it was, indeed, cancer!
When you carefully read through the earlier verses of Hebrews 11 you also see that although these heroes of faith are being commended, they didn’t necessarily receive their reward either. Vs.13 tells us, “ All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.” (NLT). Herein lies the secret: While they didn’t receive what was promised, they, “saw it all from a distance and welcomed it.”
Sometimes God doesn’t do what we ask Him to do, even when our faith is firm. Sometimes He is asking us to have even a greater amount of faith:to believe in the promise, even when it doesn’t come! To “see it from a distance and welcome it!”
That’s how I came through my cancer walk unscathed. God promised healing, and I put my eyes on the promise. True enough, I was initially confused because I didn’t see the healing happening the way I had envisioned it. Nonetheless, God did heal me of cancer; He just used the medical system to do it! My job was to keep my eyes on the promise, not the method!
Isn’t this what Hebrews 12:1b-2a tells us to do? “And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” (NLT)
And what better example than Jesus, who, “Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” (NLT). Jesus kept His eyes on what was to come! He wasn’t saved from the cross, but in the end, He receives the highest of honours for His faith in God!
What have you been praying for that you aren’t receiving? Keep your eyes on Jesus, stand firm in your faith that God will make everything beautiful … in HIS time (See Eccl. 3:11), and no matter what happens on earth, the reward for your faith awaits you … In Heaven!!!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
