Focused faith
by Libby Krahling
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Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:1b-2a).
Read Hebrews 11:32–12:2
When I was a little girl, I loved hearing about David fighting Goliath, Daniel in the lion’s den and so many others. I was convinced that I could do those cool things too if I had their faith.
Getting a bit older, I began to realise that there weren’t too many lions in country NSW, and I was unlikely to slay a giant with a slingshot and five smooth stones. If I did, I would certainly be arrested for murder …
As a teenager, it occurred to me that many of these heroes of the faith came to the kinds of sticky ends listed in today’s text. While being sawn in two and being stoned to death seemed unlikely, as an adolescent I was intensely aware of the possibility of being derided and tormented for my faith.
As an adult, I learned more about what flawed human beings these heroes were. Looking around me, I realised that many people I looked up to as a child were also fallible. Looking in the mirror, I realised that I was just as fallible and weak.
Now in middle age, I feel rather inadequate and boring in comparison with these great ‘heroes of the faith’. Pressing deadlines at work, doing my taxes and figuring out whether my data has been hacked don’t exactly seem on par with fighting Philistines.
As Hebrews 11 closes, we have a run of judges, prophets and ordinary people of faith who aren’t even named, who were able to achieve great things and suffer incredible ordeals, all because of their faith in God.
The point of recounting the lives of those saints isn’t to make us feel bad by comparison.
As inspiring as all these past examples of faith are, the greatest encouragement we have is what is still to come – the perfection which Christ will bring us in the resurrection.
The key element that binds all those stories together is who they had faith in – our mighty Lord Jesus, the perfecter of our faith. That little girl from country NSW did have the same faith as David, because she had faith in Christ, who will lead her, not to conquer Philistines, but death itself, and with David and all the saints, she will receive the crown of eternal life.
Lord Jesus, help us to remember when times are tough that you are good and that you have overcome sin, death and the devil for each one of us. When we struggle with all kinds of trials and tribulations, keep our eyes fixed on you. Amen
Libby Krahling and her husband Phil are members of St Petri Lutheran Church, Nuriootpa, in South Australia. They have two adult sons. Libby runs the Worship Planning Page, organises the Daily Devotions, and this year is currently working on the Worship and Devotional Life in Lutheran Schools and Early Childhood Services project for Lutheran Education Australia. In her spare time, Libby loves to cook, read and paint.
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