By Faith We Overcome — Finish Your Race Strong

As we continue our “By Faith” journey through Hebrews 11, we come to an individual, who in my opinion, doesn’t get near enough recognition and honor for her faith in modern day preaching and teaching, and yet she is in “Faiths Hall of Fame.”  According to this week’s Scripture, the unfolding of God’s eternal plan of creating a people group through whom the Messiah would come, required the incredible faith of Sarah.  God promised Abraham and Sarah, that He was going to bless them with a child.  There was only one problem — they were both well beyond child bearing age, yet God’s promise seemed so clear that they chose to take Him at His word.

Perhaps only couples who are praying and longing for the ability to conceive and have a child can relate to Sarah.  The heartbreak of hoping and dreaming that maybe this month we’re going to see evidence that “our miracle is about to come forth.”  But for Sarah, months turned into years, years into decades, and still no evidence that this miracle was ever going to happen.  Yet in Hebrews 11:11, God credits Sarah’s faith as being essential to His eternal plan unfolding.  “It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise.”  So clearly, it was Abraham together with Sarah that found the “Faith to Overcome.”

If you read Sarah’s faith journey, you will see some hiccups along the way.  She is the one who laughed and asked, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master – my husband – is also so old?”  That should be some measure of encouragement to all of us, that God allows us to wrestle with His promises.  The question however, when you face a faith challenge, is how you answer this question:  “Am I going to trust the circumstances or will I stand on God’s promises.” 

Sarah obviously incubated that promise of God and obviously came to the same conclusion Jeremiah came to when he prayed: “O Sovereign Lord! You mad the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm.  Nothing is too hard for you!” (Jeremiah 32:17).  Why it’s so important to incubate God’s promises, His Word, is that when you do, you will begin to change your perspective.  You realize that, for me, this may be impossible, but for my God, nothing is too difficult for him.  If God could stretch out His arm and the heavens and the earth came forth, he can cause a woman beyond child bearing years to conceive.

One day Jesus said to the disciples, “Let’s get into the boat and go to the other side.”  He immediately got in and went to sleep, but part way through their journey a terrible storm came up.  These seasoned fisherman, used to squalls on the water were terrified with this one and thought they were going to drown.  They woke Jesus, who was still sound asleep in the boat, to tell him they were going to drown.  Luke’s account says, “When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves.  Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm.  Then He asked them, “Where is your faith?”  He didn’t accuse them of having no faith, He was simply saying they were placing more faith in the wind and the waves, than they were in His Word when He said, “Get in the boat.  We’re going to the other side.”  It wasn’t that Sarah had no faith, it’s just that at first, she was placing more faith in the circumstances than she was in the promise of God. 

Let me ask you that same question:  “Where is your faith?”  What are you placing your trust in?  Are you focusing on your circumstances or are you incubating the Word and promises of God?

There’s one more thing that is critical in this passage that I want you to see.  Speaking of all the giants of faith that are listed in Hebrews 11, is says something remarkable about them.

“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. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” — Hebrews 11:13-14, 16 NLT

It’s as though the entire list of “people of faith” listed in this remarkable chapter had some sort of eternal perspective — that they each had a responsibility to carry out their part of God’s plan on earth, but that they wouldn’t necessarily see  the full reward of it in this lifetime.  That is spelled out very clearly in the final verses of Hebrews 11.

“All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.” — Hebrews 11:39-40 NLT

Hebrews 11 is about people who stood out with a faith that God found pleasing, but according to these two verses, their reward is reserved for when we have all completed the race and cross the finish line.  The image the Hebrew writer gives us is somewhat like that of a relay race.  Each runner in a race is responsible to give it their all, and when one runner slips or stumbles, the others are cheering them on to “go for gold.” In the case of Abraham and Sarah for example, aren’t you glad they stood in faith for God’s promises.   This was God’s plan for bringing forth the Messiah into the world, that all people would have the opportunity for salvation.  Our salvation was dependent on them finishing strong and choosing God’s promises over their circumstances.
You and I are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, and like Paul, who was able to say, 

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.  And now the prize awaits me – the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of His return.  And the price is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to His appearing.” — 2 Timothy 4:7,8 NLT

Going back to the relay race analogy, in an Olympic relay race, can you imagine the first runner completing their leg and then saying, “I’m going for a hotdog while you finish the race?”  Of course not – they’d be leaning over the rail screaming with everything in them, cheering on the next runner in the race.  Hebrews 12 paints a very similar picture:

“Do you see what this means – all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on?  It means we’d better get on with it.  Strip down, start running – and never quit!  No extra spiritual; fat, no parasitic sing.  Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in.  Study how He did it.  Because He never lost sight of where He was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – He could put up with anything along the way:  Cross, shame, whatever.  And now He’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.  When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility He plowed through.  That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” — Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message