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How to Be a Faith Hero
by Abby Kelly What would it take to be listed in the "Hall of Heroes", Hebrews chapter 11? What made people like Abraham and Sarah, Barak and Rahab, David and Daniel and the others stand out? Do you think you have heroic faith? Romans 4:19 says, "And Abraham's faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as deadand so was Sarah's womb." Maybe that's what it takesmaybe the kind of faith God wants us to have never doubts, never weakens, struggles or asks questions. Before you get too discouraged and give up, knowing you've already had a few doubts or questioned God a few times, let's take a close look at Abraham's life. In Genesis 17, God told Abraham that He would give him a son and that through Abraham God would make a might nation. But Abraham was already 100 years old and Sarah was really old too! It hardly seemed possible that they could have a child. Abraham reminded God of this fact: "Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. 'How could I become a father at the age of 100?' he thought. 'And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?'" (Genesis 17:17) Abraham laughed at God! At first, he didn't believe that God could really do what He said. Later on in Genesis, Abraham was following God on a journey toward a promised land. He came to a city called Gerar. There, he told his wife, Sarah, to lie and say that she was his sister, because he was afraid that the king of that place might kill him in order to marry Sarah himself because she was very beautiful. God never tells us to lie. But Abraham doubted that God would protect him, so he took matters into his own hands. If we look through the rest of the Bible and examined the lives of the other faith heroes mentioned in Hebrews 11, we'd find that they sinned, failed and doubted God sometimes, too. Gideon did not believe that God would deliver the nation of Israel through him. David disobeyed God and committed adultery. Jacob deceived his father and stole his brother's blessing. Rahab was a prostitute, and Samson rebelled against his parents and acted pridefully. God doesn't expect us to have perfect faith. Even the men and women that the Bible commends for their strong faith, doubted sometimes. One of my favorite Bible stories is in Mark 9. A man came to Jesus asking Him to heal his very sick son. Jesus told the man, "'Anything is possible for the one who believes.'" With great honesty and humility, the man replied, "'I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!'" At the end of the story, Jesus did heal the man's son. Don't be ashamed if your faith wavers, if you have questions or difficulty believing. Ask God to help you with your unbelief and to strengthen your faith. The Bible says that God knows our hearts. Tell God about your fears and questions; He is big enough to handle your doubts and to give you answers. Learn more about me on my website: http://predatory-lies.com/about-me/ Please find my book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Predatory-Lies-Anorexia-Kelly-ebook/dp/B00HFGMBJA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389645006&sr=8-1&keywords=predatory+lies Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |