Scripture: Hebrews 11:20-22 (ESV)
“By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.”
In our front garden there is a beautiful weeping cherry blossom tree. This tree was planted many years ago and even though they sold the house, their decision to plant the tree still blesses us today. Every year this tree announces that spring has arrived by sprouting hundreds of pink flowers. Even though we get to enjoy this beauty, we never did anything to create it. Our actions in faith are somewhat similar. The actions we take by faith can often outlive us, and bear a blessing generations after we have died.
In our passage Isaac, Jacob and Joseph all demonstrate a faith that reaches well beyond their lifetime. By faith they are trusting promises that they would never see in their lives. They trusted that God had a greater plan, a plan that outlived them.
Now if you know the story of Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau, you will know that Isaac was tricked into blessing Jacob in preference to his older son Esau. And yet when Esau asks for Isaac to bless him, Isaac responds that he cannot undo what has been done. He, in faith, trusted that God would work out his covenantal promises even though he did not understand it.
Similarly Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, again the wrong way around. The greater blessing ended up going to the younger brother. And yet, this passage teaches us that this was done by faith. His blessing ended up proving true and the younger brother’s offspring, Ephraim’s offspring, were greater than that of Manasseh.
In the same way Joseph, trusting by faith, that God would fulfil his promise to bring Israel out of Egypt, gave instructions about what should happen to his body once he died.
In each case the patriarchs looked to the future in faith, trusting that God would finish what he started, even if they would not see it happen in their lifetime. This is a great lesson for us, because we want everything now! We want God to give us immediate outcomes now. We want him to act, to heal, to convert people today so that we can see our faith being rewarded.
But our faith lives aren’t first and foremost our faith lives. We belong to God through Jesus Christ. Our stories are part of a much bigger story that God is writing throughout history. The reality is we may not see the miracle happen in this life. We might not get the conversion of a friend or family member we have been praying for, we might not experience or see the miraculous healing we have been asking for, we may not actually see God act.
That is OK. Because remember how the author of Hebrews defines faith at the start of this chapter:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
If we only believed because we saw things, we would not have real faith - only scientific conviction.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, thank you for working in our hearts to give us real faith. Protect us from false faith, faith only grounded in things we have seen. Teach our hearts to trust our Father in all circumstances, especially when we don’t see.
Spiritual Challenge:
Consider the things you have been praying for, but which haven’t happened. Hand them over to God, trusting that he knows what is best. Leave them to him, by faith.
Believing isn't always seeing...