Faith That Trusts God While the Fulfillment Is Still Unseen

The Question of Trust and the Faithfulness of God

Sometimes we need to be reminded of who we can trust and why. Can you think of someone you trust completely to keep their promises: a parent, a spouse, or a beloved friend? Sometimes it's hard to trust other people, but there is One who can always be trusted. One who keeps every promise.

The author of Hebrews was writing to Jewish converts to Christianity who were under intense persecution. They were considering renouncing their new faith. It was the intent of the author to remind them God's word is His bond. He has absolute integrity. His word is totally trustworthy. This simply means if He has promised to do something it will happen. Maybe not in our lifetime, but in God's perfect timing (Hebrews 10:23). True faith trusts God while the fulfillment is still unseen.

Faith Defined: Confidence in God’s Promises

He begins in Hebrews 11:1 by explaining that "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." To have faith we need to know what it is. We often think of faith as a kind of wishful thinking. We have to remember the word translated hope in this verse doesn't just mean something might happen if we're lucky. Hope means that we live with the expectation that something will happen. We know it will, we just don't know when.

Faith makes up what we cannot yet see. It is the proof of a promised future. This is why the author immediately points to creation itself. By faith we understand the world was formed by God’s word, from things that are not visible (Hebrews 11:3). The "hall of faith" the author is about to introduce is made up of people in the past who "obtained a good testimony" because of their faith. Faith in Scripture is never passive; it always moves people to act in trust, even when the outcome is unseen.

Biblical faith rests on what God has spoken, not on when or how He fulfills it.

Faith that Trusts God While the Fulfillment is Still Unseen

These men and women had trusted God with their lives even when they could not see the exact direction that God was leading them. How could they do that? They knew that God's word was His bond. By trusting God and believing that He was in control, no matter their circumstance, they proved their faith in Him.

One thing all of these powerful examples had in common was action. They didn't just say they had faith in God; they acted on their faith. The works they did were evidence of their faith, just as James tells us (James 2:17-18). So what did they do?

In Hebrews 11:4-11, we are told Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice. Enoch, we are told, pleased God. Noah built an ark. Abraham obeyed and left for a completely unknown land while Sarah received strength to conceive. Faith brought Abraham into a new land and made Sarah a mother.

In each of these examples we see that God is pleased with the results of the faith of his people. Abel's sacrifice was only better because it was offered with faith. It was offered with an expectation of a future promise. Noah spent decades building a ship in spite of the rejection he endured and despite having never seen such a flood in his life. Have you ever stepped out in faith, like Abraham, and gone a completely different direction in your life just because you believed God wanted you to?

Trusting God When the Promise Remains Unfulfilled

In Hebrews 11:13 we are told,

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

Strangers and pilgrims sounds like a lonely description. As Christians in today's world it isn't uncommon to feel lonely, yet our world is connected at every level, but we live differently. It's almost like we're not part of the dominant culture, and we aren't.

Instead of making us feel alone we should feel liberated. We can live our lives of faith for God knowing that regardless of what the culture around us believes and admires we are living for our Savior. His love and good testimony is what we should seek above all else.

Each of these faith heroes didn't get to see the future promises fulfilled but they died in faith believing that it would happen. They fully trusted God to do as He said He would. All of them longed for a heavenly home because they knew their time on earth was not all there was. The author continues with more faith examples. These accounts are not preserved merely to admire the faith of others, but to examine our own.

Obedience Chosen Without Knowing the Outcome

In Hebrews 11:17-22, Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice. Isaac gave Jacob and Esau blessings for the future. Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph and Joseph instructed his people to carry his bones to the promised land.

Moses refused the "passing pleasure of sin" and wanted to be counted among his own people, not as part of Pharaoh's household. Faith caused him to keep the Passover and by faith he led his people on dry land across the Red Sea. Rahab in faith greeted the Israelite spies with peace and saved herself and her household (Hebrews 11:24-31).

Each of these faith heroes trusted God's promises just as we are to do today. Do we say we have faith or do we act on our faith? If Moses had questioned God's ability to save His people he would have never left Egypt. Moses had no way of knowing how God would get him to the Promised Land, he just knew by faith that he would. How much time do we spend questioning God instead of acting on His will for us?

Faith Tested by Suffering and Fulfilled in Christ

In Hebrews 11:35-38 we are given some final examples of the mighty deeds of old done in faith. Still others suffered torture, imprisonment, and beatings. They were sawn in two and killed by the sword, but they did not waver in their faith. These men and women did not just have faith when it was easy and convenient. Their faith did not fail even in the worst of circumstances.

They stood by their God who stood by them. Each of them had a longing for something greater than themselves, promised by God, that they knew would come. Trusting God in hard times isn't always easy. These examples of faith were all flawed people just as we are, but they learned one important lesson. They were all trusting of the One who knows your heart. All of these promises, long trusted but not fully seen, were ultimately fulfilled in a single Person (Hebrews 1:1-2).

What they trusted God to do in the future, we now know He has already accomplished in Christ. The Messiah, the Deliverer, the Holy One of Israel, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, born to a virgin, He was humble and gentle. He was a King who didn't fit the image of their expectations but who was the promised One. Then the writer of Hebrews tells us if the saints of old stood by God with faith and trust how much more should we?

Running the Race as Faithful Servants of the New Covenant

Jesus, the author of Hebrews tells us, is the finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He endured the Cross for us, so how can we grow weary and discouraged. No one enjoys discipline even though we know it is for our good and trains us in the "fruit of righteousness."

We are to enjoy peace and pursue holiness because if we don't have these we won't see God (Hebrews 12:14). The Bible commands us to pursue holiness. It results from Christ's work in us. This is why Jesus died, so that we could live holy lives that honor God. How does Jesus finish our faith?

It is God who begins the work of faith in our hearts (Philippians 1:6) and if we keep our eyes on Him we can remain faithful servants. We do not serve in order to become God’s children; we serve because we already belong to Him. Servants work for their master because this is their duty.

We serve God out of love. Servants who refuse to work probably never really wanted the job in the first place. Scripture makes room for weakness and struggle, but not for a faith that produces no desire to follow Christ. Perhaps they never loved Him.

Maybe they only thought they wanted to be a servant. Maybe they found out the work was too hard. Maybe they thought they could just show up, do nothing, and still be rewarded. Faithful servants run the race of faithful obedience and persevere. They grow in sanctification. Because they have faith and trust in a reward they cannot yet see, they keep running in spite of the obstacles thrown their way.

In Hebrews 12:18-24, the author tells his Jewish audience that they haven't come to the untouchable mountain of God where Moses received the commandments in fear under the Old Covenant. Today they have come to the "heavenly Jerusalem." They have come to the "church of the firstborn who are registered in Heaven" and to the "spirits of just men made perfect."

And how has this happened? Because Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant. Through Him we have access to the throne of God and to be treated as God's sons and daughters. We can trust Him in every season of our lives.

Our prayer is to be an active, faithful trusting servant of God who is "registered in Heaven" (Hebrews 12:23). Are you registered there? Are you waiting for that promise you cannot see because your faithful God has said it? Jesus, our beloved promise keeper, hears us and loves us. His desire is for us to have a good testimony, a faith that is steady and as true as He is to us.