How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. 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 11:32-40
Paul, well-schooled in the history of God’s people,
remembered the saints of ancient times.
He also had a firsthand knowledge of saints who were too good for this
world. Many Old Testament saints and
prohets were a powerful force for good, at least temporarily. By the time of Jesus’ birth there had been an
absence of that kind of presence for 400 years.
The new brand of prophet was an outcast; the new brand of saints were
sufferers, too good for this world..
Paul ends his comforting message to us with a reminder
that, even with no earthly resolution to the difficulties, and even outright
persecution we may suffer in remaining faithful to Christ, His plan for us is
blessing.
In the same way Job, who suffered at the hand of the
unseen enemy, Lucifer, and, even with the help of wise friends who sat days on
end with Job’s suffering, there was never an answer that quite satisfied that
question we all have…WHY?
In the end, we all must face the reality of human
condition…we already know why; truth be told, we don’t like the answer, and we
anguish in the search for something that lets us down gently.
The reason for suffering is sin; the reason it hurts so
much, is, merely entertaining the notion that we can do something about our
problem without God only deepens and strengthens sin’s hold on us. Paul expressed this frustration in his letter
to the Roman church, along with the only answer that truly makes any sense in a
sin-darkened world:
Oh, what a miserable person I am!
Who will free me
from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 7:24-25a
For You Today
Remember this day all those who suffered for the cause of faith in
God. Include those who suffer today from
the persecution of this world’s evil ones, aligned against heaven in every
way. If you’re among the suffering, take
heart, and hold faith tightly – God has something better planned for all saints.
There are about 2,000 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions
library. To dig deeper on
today’s topic, explore some of these:
Something Better and Impossible
Images: Title Pixabay.com Images without citation are either personal
property of the author, or in public domain.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
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