A Story of Faith: Who are you listening to?

Hebrews is my designated “faith” chapter; my old, trusty, dependable vehicle I jump into when I’m far off and need to take a quick trip back home to the peaceful place of faith. 

I love to open it up to Hebrews 11 and 12 and get a fresh dose of faith. The pages fall open, creased with frequent wear and my brain is refreshed with stories of prophets long ago. “They did things by faith, why can’t I? What’s my story of faith, Lord? How can I walk by faith?” I ask the Lord frequently.

Times of trial? Feeling faithless? Ask for faith. Right then and there. 

When God provides mighty ways for me to come boldly before the throne and take up a faith story of my own, I freak (a little). I forget I asked for faith and ignore the means that God has provided as an answer.  

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We’ve all been there. We get bad news that floors us and what do we do? We pick up the phone and we call that friend. You know who I’m talking about. The one that has our back. The one that we know will side with us; or if you’re super holy, the one that will pray for us or point out what they think the “right” answer is. 

We hang up the phone feeling just as gross as we did when we picked it up. Unsure, unsettled, yuck. Whatever you call that feeling, it is the warning light of our soul. When our soul longs to be spoken to, it just can’t settle for anything but Jesus. 

Hebrews 11 and 12 are great inspirations. They show us the faith of the prophets of old. They remind us of the testimonies of faith through “greats” like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and rest of the crew. If we really want to understand these stories of faith and live out our own, we have to start at the very beginning. I hear it’s a very good place to start.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” - Hebrews 1:1-2

Like the opening of a carefully crafted screenplay, the author of Hebrews contextualizes what the remainder of Hebrews must be rooted in; God has spoken to us and is still speaking to us through his son. And just as a side note, he was there when God created the world. 

Picking up the phone to call the person who’s got your back suddenly seems a little less helpful. I think I’d put my money on the creator and co-creator of the world. You?

When you are aware of your own complacency and you are actually disturbed by it, and you’re asking the Lord to give you faith in the midst of struggle, you must be keen to recognize who exactly it is that that the Lord has appointed to speak to you. 

His is the only voice worth listening to.

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