Over the past several weeks on Wednesday nights, we have been slowly walking through Hebrews 11. Before beginning this series, I had read this chapter many times and knew its familiar names and stories, but I had never preached through it. Studying it carefully week by week has been a tremendous encouragement to me personally. I am seeing more clearly that Hebrews 11 is far more than a list of great men and women who did extraordinary things for God. It is a chapter about ordinary people who trusted an extraordinary God.
The longer I study this chapter, the more I am convinced that biblical faith is both simpler and more demanding than we sometimes make it. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith believes God, and because it believes God, it acts upon what God has said.
That truth runs through the entire chapter. So far, Abel worshiped by faith. Enoch walked with God by faith. Noah obeyed by faith. Abraham trusted God by faith. Isaac blessed by faith. Jacob finished his life by faith. Joseph looked ahead by faith. And Moses chose God over everything Egypt could offer by faith.
Different people. Different circumstances. Different trials. But the same faithful God.
Faith Rests on the Faithfulness of God
That has been one of the great lessons for me: faith is not primarily about the strength of the person believing; it is about the trustworthiness of the God being believed.
Noah had never seen what God told him was coming, but God had spoken. Abraham did not know where God was taking him, but God had called. Abraham and Sarah waited years for a promised son, but God had promised. Moses turned his back on the treasures of Egypt because he believed that what God offered was infinitely better.
Again and again, faith says, “God has spoken, and that is enough.”
This is encouraging because our faith is often weak. We struggle. We fear. We wonder what God is doing. Hebrews 11 does not call us to place confidence in our ability to hold everything together. It calls us to trust the God who holds us. The strength of faith is found in the object of faith, and our God is always faithful.
Faith Obeys Without Knowing the Outcome
One thing that has especially challenged me is that faith obeys before it sees the outcome. We often want God to show us how everything is going to work out before we obey Him. We want the map before we take the first step. We want some assurance that obedience will be comfortable, successful, or appreciated.
But Hebrews 11 does not describe that kind of life.
Noah built before the rain came. Abraham went out “not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). Moses chose “rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25).
Faith does not say, “Lord, show me how this will turn out, and then I will obey.” Faith says, “Lord, You have spoken. I will obey You and trust You with the outcome.”
That is convicting because so much of our hesitation in the Christian life comes from wanting guarantees God has never promised us. God has not promised that obedience will always make life easier. He has not promised that faithfulness will always be applauded. He has not promised that following Christ will keep us from suffering. He has promised us something far better: He has promised us Himself.
Faith Looks Beyond What It Can See
Hebrews 11 has also reminded me that faith learns to look beyond what it can see. Abraham was “looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). Others confessed that they were “strangers and exiles on the earth” and desired “a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (vv. 13, 16). Moses considered “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward” (v. 26).
The Christian does not deny what he sees around him. He simply knows that what he sees is not all there is.
There is a better country. There is a coming reward. There is a kingdom that cannot be shaken. There is a Savior whom we have not yet seen with our eyes, but whom we know and trust.
That changes how we live now. It changes how we handle suffering. It changes how tightly we hold our possessions. It changes the decisions we make and even what we call success. The world continually tells us, “Take what you can see now.” Faith responds, “There is something better.”
Faith Trusts God With the Results
Perhaps one of the most important truths in Hebrews 11 comes near the end of the chapter. Some people conquered kingdoms, escaped the sword, and experienced remarkable deliverance. Others were tortured, imprisoned, mistreated, and killed. Yet Scripture presents both groups as examples of faith.
That is enormously important.
Sometimes faith walks out of the fire. Sometimes faith walks faithfully into it. Sometimes God shuts the mouths of lions. Sometimes His faithful people suffer.
The measure of faith is not whether our circumstances turn out the way we hoped. The measure of faith is whether we continue trusting God when they do not.
Biblical faith is not confidence that God will give me the outcome I want. Biblical faith is confidence that God is worthy of my trust regardless of the outcome.
Faith Fixes Its Eyes on Christ
Ultimately, Hebrews 11 is taking us somewhere. The chapter does not really end with Hebrews 11:40. The thought continues into chapter 12: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1–2).
Abel is not the point. Noah is not the point. Abraham is not the point. Moses is not the point. Jesus Christ is the point.
These men and women testify that God can be trusted, but our eyes are not ultimately fixed upon them. Our eyes are fixed upon Christ. He endured the cross. He despised the shame. He finished the work the Father gave Him to do. He rose from the grave and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
So when you are tired, look to Christ. When obedience is costly, look to Christ. When you cannot understand what God is doing, look to Christ. When the world seems more attractive than holiness, look to Christ. When suffering comes and you cannot see the outcome, look to Christ.
Keep walking. Keep trusting. Keep obeying.
The God who was faithful to Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses has not changed. Faith keeps trusting God because God is always trustworthy.
Perhaps that is what I am learning most from Hebrews 11. We do not need to know everything God is doing. We do not need to see how everything will turn out. We simply need to know the One who has spoken—and trust Him enough to obey.
By faith.
Caleb Cunningham