Promises

Do you have a favorite worship song that makes you reach for the volume dial while in the car, or do you get excited when you hear the worship team begin to play it on Sunday morning? I do, and I’m glad you asked – Promises by Maverick City Music. As life would have it, this song came on the radio while reflecting on this devotional, Hebrews 11, and faith as it relates to our current season of advent.

Hebrews 11 recounts the trials and tribulations endured by some of the more famous Old Testament people – Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Jacob, Noah, and Rahab, to name a few. It is easy to gloss over this chapter because we are likely familiar with their stories and familiar with the results of their faith. In one of the translations I read, this chapter was appropriately named “The Faith Hall of Fame.”

“God of Abraham,
You’re the God of the covenant
And of faithful promises
Time and time again.
You have proven
You’ll do just what You said”

About halfway through the chapter, verse 13 states, “All these people were still living by faith when they died.” They were waiting, in advent, through faith for Jesus who was to come.

“God, from age to age,
Though the earth may pass away,
Your word remains the same, yeah,
Your history can prove
There’s nothing You can’t do,
You’re faithful and true”

Today, you and I continue to wait faithfully for Jesus to fulfill his next promise.

“I put my faith in Jesus,
My anchor to the ground,
My hope and firm foundation”

Towards the end of Hebrews 11, the author recounts those who kept the faith but suffered greatly through torture, flogging, imprisonment, stoning, death, and so forth. Yet, (v. 39) “They were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what was promised.” Do you feel like these are more your people? Have you asked repeatedly and held steadfast to faith that God would move in a specific situation only to hear silence, or perhaps worse, received the opposite of what you asked for?

“In the middle of the storm, in the middle of my trial,
I’ll still bless You,
In the middle of the road, when I don’t know where to go
I’ll still bless You (yeah)”

I can’t help but think of all the people who witnessed these hall of fame stories in real time. Were they impressed by their faith, or were they so ordinary no one noticed their magnitude? Who watched from afar, believing the promise, but their story never made it to the pages of Hebrews 11? Who is watching your story through the highs and lows of steadfast faith – thinking you are a modern-day Sarah or Jacob? Perhaps they are watching you and your faithfulness from afar, believing in the promises to come.

“Though the storms may come and the winds may blow,
I’ll remain steadfast”

You can listen to Promises here, but I encourage you to read Hebrews 11 and reflect on the lyrics – identifying similarities, patterns, and areas of relation to your own life.

Merry Christmas!

DeLynn Butler