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STAYING POWER #5
MAKING FAITH YOUR FUEL
Welcome to the final program in our Staying Power series on the book of Hebrews. I hope you've benefited from the wonderfully practical counsel we've uncovered in its pages. Today we're going to look at the final ingredient that puts it all together, it's a great theme in the book that deals with the basic problem Hebrews is aimed at: how do we move forward, how to we maintain positive changes in our lives.
Let's look at Hebrews right now together, back toward the end of the book, chapter 11. This is one of the most beloved chapters in the Bible. It's the faith chapter; it presents us with a gallery of the heroes of faith.
Faith is the final ingredient we need to keep moving forward. Now, you may have heard that before. But Hebrews gives us a very unique view of this resource; it gives us a remarkable picture of faith.
After all, faith by itself, is not necessarily the answer. Faith in ice two feet thick is a good thing. It helps you walk right across it. But faith in ice one inch thick is unfortunate. That kind of faith can dump you in over your head.
Obviously the kind of faith we exercise is important. It's got to be more than gullibility, more than wishful thinking. We need the kind that will get us moving and keep us moving--on solid ground. And that's what Hebrews is going to show us.
So first let's look at a definition. That's how the eleventh chapter of Hebrews starts out. Look at verse one:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. [And down to verse three:] By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Hebrews 11:1,3
The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Those phrases may be familiar. What do they mean?
Hebrews gives us this essential fact to start with. Faith helps us see more. Faith helps us see things that aren't in front of our face. Creation is a good example. If a person never reflects on the beauty and design of nature, if he just pans over what's in front of his eyes---then he won't see God at all. But if he does really reflect on the marvelous design of perfectly ordinary things, then he will, in effect, see the invisible Creator.
In other words, faith helps us see more than just what our senses take in. George Muller had an interesting way of expressing this. Mr. Muller, you may recall, was the man in Victorian England who raised up orphanages and cared for thousands of children--without asking anyone for a cent. It was all a faith venture.
Well one day Mr. Muller was thanking God that his orphanages had a 3000 pound balance in the bank. That was quite unusual. A friend, who wanted to be encouraging, commented, "Don't you find it easier now to trust in God."
"No," Muller quickly replied, "I find myself apt to trust the 3000 pounds!"
The human tendency is to see only what's in front of our faces. That money in the bank is easier to focus on that the resources of our heavenly father.
What Muller was saying is: to maintain faith I really need to keep my focus on God, on His treasures in heaven. My bank balance will go up and down, but God's provisions remain constant.
Now, let's try to get a handle on the kind of faith that keeps us moving forward, that prevents relapses. I think we can sum it up in one word: vision. People who have great vision see what others don't. They see more; they see farther.
That's what Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter, is all about: vision. Look at the heroic examples listed there. Noah, for example, in verse 7. By faith he saves his family in the Ark. Why? Because he saw the flood coming; he saw what no one else could see. He had vision.
Then we have Abraham. By faith Abraham went out to the land of promise, not knowing where he was going. He'd never been to Canaan. He'd never seen the place. But on the basis of what God had promised, he had a vision, a vision of a city whose builder and maker is God.
By faith Moses chose to endure hardship with the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Why? Because he had a vision of a greater reward, something better, a rendezvous with destiny in the wilderness. He saw what no one else in the courts of Pharaoh could see.
Vision. Vision focused on God's resources. That's what makes the difference. That's the kind of faith that gives us momentum.
It can make a huge difference even in the most unpromising lives.
No one in Bruce Olson's high school would have ever picked him to become a hero among the fiercest tribe of the Colombian Amazon. No one in their right mind.
Bruce was the kid everyone else didn't want to be. Spindly and pale, nearsighted and awkward. He wasn't good enough in sports to be asked to play. He wasn't cool enough to be part of any social groups.
Bruce lived in his own isolated world of books. He actually enjoyed reading in Latin and Greek. While all the other kids were listening to the Beatles and Beach Boys, he was practicing dead languages.
Fortunately Bruce attended a friend's church and discovered the joy of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It was the most wonderful thing that had happened in his life.
Then, at the age of 19, he got a perfectly ridiculous idea into his head. He would go to Colombia, South America, and try to reach one of the Amazon tribes who'd never been exposed to the gospel. Bruce had felt a growing interest in missions for several years. Now it had become an overwhelming conviction.
So, to his parents great dismay, Bruce boarded a plane for Colombia with one hundred dollars in his pocket. He had no connections--no missionary organization wanted him. He didn't know Spanish--much less any of the Indian languages. And he had absolutely no experience in the Great Outdoors. As a kid he'd always sneaked out of Boy Scout meetings to go read a book.
But he had one thing going for him: a strong vision of God's grace reaching across cultural barriers. His vision began to center around one particularly dangerous tribe: the Motilones. They had killed every white man who'd dared venture into their territory.
So after a period of language and medical training, he stumbled off into the jungle in search of the Motilones. No one expected him to survive. And Bruce did almost lose his life on several occasions.
But let me tell you what else happened, something extraorinary. In a few short years Bruce had established eight health stations, each one staffed by Motilones who gave shots, antibiotics and other medications. That enabled the tribe to combat the epidemics that were wiping them out.
Each Motilone village also developed its own agricultural system. By raising corn and cattle they were able to have a much more stable diet.
Bruce Olson's exploits have won him the friendship of five presidents of Colombia, and appearances before the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
Friends, Bruce Olson had absolutely nothing going for him--except vision, a vision focused on God's resources. That's the kind of faith that can keep us moving forward. That's the kind of faith that jumps out of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.
One of the wonderful things about the kind of faith that chapter celebrates is this: faith actually makes things happen. It creates something where there was nothing before. Remember that this whole chapter is about what people did by faith. Faith caused them to accomplish great things. Crossing the Red Sea on dry land. Making the walls of Jericho tumble down. How did these things happen? By faith.
Bruce Olson, that nearsighted high school reject from Minnesota, certainly accomplished great things, greater things than anyone dreamed possible.
Most amazing of all, was the way the gospel swept through the Motilone world like a brush fire. It didn't come just through Bruce's preaching. It came as a revelation, as a fulfillment of the hopes and prophecies of their tribal folklore.
What's more, Bruce was able to communicate the gospel through the Motilone language and culture. It resonated with traditions that seem to have prepared them to receive the good news. At first Bruce almost had a hard time believing these people could accept it so quickly. But he couldn't deny the transformations he was seeing around him: indifference replaced by cooperation, despair by hope and love. It was as if a whole population were together born again.
Visionary faith accomplishes great things. Why? Because it plugs into God's resources. Visionary faith creates substance; it creates evidence, where there was nothing before. It makes the invisible very real.
What do we need most of all to keep moving forward? We need the persevering faith that this book of Hebrews celebrates. God is still doing marvelous things in our world. The Christian life can still be a life of great adventure. God wants to do great things in your life.
So catch the vision! Exercise whatever faith you have to start with. Plug into God's resources. Focus on Christ, not just the troubles in front of your face. Concentrate your prayers on what God can do. If you do that, I promise, your Heavenly Father will begin to nurture a visionary faith inside your heart.
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