Biblical Perspective

Our Sunday school lesson for tomorrow is about the patriarch Abraham who is known as the father of faith. A quote from the introduction of the lesson reads: ” We love to read about Abraham and his faith; it inspires, challenges, and beckons us to follow his example deeper into the will of God.” I think for most of us the inspiration of the faith of Abraham finds a place of desire in our hearts. We may say: “I wish I had the faith of Abraham.”

There are many other examples in the Bible that speak to us as well. Take for instance the account in Acts where Paul and Sylas were put in prison. In the dark of the midnight, while they were singing, God caused and earthquake which loosed their stocks and opened the prison doors. Once again, we think how amazing it was and it inspires us.

We could go on to the account of David and Goliath, Little Samuel, Ruth, and Naomi, and many, many more characters in the Bible whose faith, trust, love for God, and dedication have spurned us on in times of discouragement. There is a tendency in my heart, maybe I am the only one, to romanticize those people, and put them on sort of a pedestal where we think of them as some sort of heroes. I am not saying they are not heroes, but in their time, they were ordinary people just like you and me.

Abraham no doubt felt comfortable living where he was. He did not need his faith tested. He did not necessarily need to move anywhere. How would you feel if the Lord spoke to you and said that He wanted you to load everything up in a moving van and take off for a place he would tell you as you travelled? Which way would you go? What would you tell your family? In a technical sense this would be what he had to face, which has earned him the recognition as the father of faith.

Paul and Sylas were human as well. No doubt their backs and bodies were racked with pain from the beatings they had received. The prison was dark, possibly damp, the stones they sat on were cold on their backs, the stocks chafed their ankles and wrists. Possibly there were flies and vermin that sat on their faces and attacked their bodies in the dark but they could not reach them with their hands in stocks. There they sat, caked in blood, and dirt, in a smelly dark dungeon, for what? Preaching the Word of God, and for healing a poor sick girl. I imagine the situation could not have gotten much worse for their physical well-being. Perhaps they were beginning to question themselves, whither they had really done the right thing. Maybe they thought of the comforts of home and what was familiar. And then to lift their spirits they began to sing praises to God for His infinite grace and mercy! They could not know that God would hear and open the prison, no, they sang because of what was deep in their hearts. Their bodies were in prison, but their spirits were free.

David was but a young man when he came to the battlefield. He was not a seasoned warrior; he was but a shepherd who was used to spending time up in the mountains taking care of his father’s sheep. When he arrives to check on his brothers and present the gifts to the captain, he is surprised to see this giant of the other army come out shouting at the Israelites to come fight him. No doubt he was equally surprised to see the men cower in fear! In my mind I can almost hear his thinking, “What! You mean you all are afraid of this man? And you call yourselves soldiers?” To David this made no sense that the armies of God would be afraid to go out to battle against one man. Yes, he was huge, but after all, he was defying God’s army! He would go, he wasn’t really afraid. Perhaps some of it could be his boyishness coming out in which he did not really think about the consequences of losing. At any rate his faith had been tested and He knew that God was fully able to deliver him from the enemy. It did not matter that the enemy had a huge sword and shield, as well as standing twice his height and breadth. He did not consider that he had none of the normal soldier’s weapons to fight with, he only knew that God was on their side and if He willed it so, would deliver him, despite his apparent personage, as well as his brother’s ridicule. The odds were really stacked against him, and when it came down to it, surely there was a little fear and trepidation in his heart. Would his stone do the job? Would his aim be accurate enough? He had never killed a man before! If he hesitated, we have no record of it, but rather he ran to meet the giant Goliath and the rest is history.

There was nothing abnormal about this normal young man, who, put his faith in God and put the whole of the enemy army to flight.

There are many others we could consider like the writer of Hebrews writes, who were normal people who trusted in a powerful God. * Next time we are tempted to say; I wish I had the faith of Abraham, or the courage of David, or the fortitude of Paul and Sylas, remember they were common people like you and me. We have access to the same God, same power, and the same Faith. Though their stories evoke inspiration, the reality is that for them it was not easy. They had to go through the test, the valley, the trials, so that they could bear the testimony of a faithful God. The power was not of them, but of God!
God be praised!

*And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
(Heb 11:32-40)