I was thinking the other day of those towering men (and women) of faith we read about in the Bible. You know, “those guys” who just seemed to have mountain-moving faith. It can seem like our lives are so much different than their lives, perhaps that we are much more sinful than they, so that we deserve less. And I caught myself in mid-thought, almost angry at my own thinking. I recognized a familiar voice in my head, and it wasn’t the voice of God.

The thing to do in times like these is to actually look at what the Word of God says, and to go with this Truth instead of the lies of that other voice. As I reflected on Hebrews 11 it became clear that we aren’t so different after all, from “those guys” of faith.

Abel brought an offering to God. Do we? Is this really so difficult? Does this take mountain moving faith? I think not.

Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying, because “God took him. For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.”  Do we please God? Do we even comprehend the concept of pleasing God Almighty? It’s by faith.

Noah built the ark because God told him to. He was not well thought of during the process, I’m sure, but he obeyed, and was saved. The point? God spoke, Noah obeyed.

Abraham was told by God to go to another place to live. He obeyed, not knowing anything about what was to happen. Do you think he ever had doubts? I’m sure he did. Did he have some peer pressure to overcome? I’m sure he did. But he did it.

Sarah’s story ramps up the faith to another level, because she was much too old to have the child God promised. I can just imagine her saying to God, “You’re going to do what? With me? Ha!”   But God was up to something, and God came through!

“It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.” Do fathers today bless their children, in faith, pronouncing upon them words God gives them? If not, why not?

This next one is a real doozy: “It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child…” Do parents today “see” their children as “unusual,” meaning gifted by God Almighty for some purpose? What a thought! That God didn’t just ‘procreate’ my kids, but that He made them, and with a purpose in mind. God is up to something in my children!!!

By now you get my redeemed thinking about this, that while the enemy lies to us and tries to get us to look away from the Lord, it is by, with, and IN faith that we rebuke the enemy and turn instead to Jesus Christ.

We have faith, because God has deposited it into us. We have somewhat regular everyday lives, just like “those guys,” and perhaps God Almighty is just waiting for us to get it, and allow Him to speak to us. It’s for our own good, after all, that the Father speaks. Our problems may not be nearly as big as Noah’s, or Moses’, or Joseph’s. We’re not about to be drowned, or sent down a river in a basket, or put in a pit to die. Our every day lives may actually seem quite tame compared to “those guys.” But we have the same Lord God of Heaven on our side. Waiting for us to pay attention…