WEReveal

I have been think­ing about a cou­ple Sunday’s ago ser­mon, one aspect of it any­way. When we believe that we in fact are aliens and strangers in this world, we need to act accord­ingly.

The pas­sage in Hebrews 11 [show]Hebrews 11 Now faith is the assur­ance of things hoped for, the con­vic­tion of things not seen. [2]For by it the peo­ple of old received their com­men­da­tion. [3]By faith we under­stand that the uni­verse was cre­ated by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are vis­i­ble. [4]By faith Abel offered to God a more accept­able sac­ri­fice than Cain, through which he was com­mended as right­eous, God com­mend­ing him by accept­ing his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. [5]By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was com­mended as hav­ing pleased God. [6]And with­out faith it is impos­si­ble to please him, for who­ever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. [7]By faith Noah, being warned by God con­cern­ing events as yet unseen, in rev­er­ent fear con­structed an ark for the sav­ing of his house­hold. By this he con­demned the world and became an heir of the right­eous­ness that comes by faith. [8]By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inher­i­tance. And he went out, not know­ing where he was going. [9]By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a for­eign land, liv­ing in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. [10]For he was look­ing for­ward to the city that has foun­da­tions, whose designer and builder is God. [11]By faith Sarah her­self received power to con­ceive, even when she was past the age, since she con­sid­ered him faith­ful who had promised. [12]Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descen­dants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innu­mer­able grains of sand by the seashore. [13]These all died in faith, not hav­ing received the things promised, but hav­ing seen them and greeted them from afar, and hav­ing acknowl­edged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. [14]For peo­ple who speak thus make it clear that they are seek­ing a home­land. [15]If they had been think­ing of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had oppor­tu­nity to return. [16]But as it is, they desire a bet­ter coun­try, that is, a heav­enly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has pre­pared for them a city. [17]By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offer­ing up his only son, [18]of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your off­spring be named.” [19]He con­sid­ered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, fig­u­ra­tively speak­ing, he did receive him back. [20]By faith Isaac invoked future bless­ings on Jacob and Esau. [21]By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bow­ing in wor­ship over the head of his staff. [22]By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made men­tion of the exo­dus of the Israelites and gave direc­tions con­cern­ing his bones. [23]By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid­den for three months by his par­ents, because they saw that the child was beau­ti­ful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. [24]By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daugh­ter, [25]choosing rather to be mis­treated with the peo­ple of God than to enjoy the fleet­ing plea­sures of sin. [26]He con­sid­ered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the trea­sures of Egypt, for he was look­ing to the reward. [27]By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as see­ing him who is invis­i­ble. [28]By faith he kept the Passover and sprin­kled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the first­born might not touch them. [29]By faith the peo­ple crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. [30]By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encir­cled for seven days. [31]By faith Rahab the pros­ti­tute did not per­ish with those who were dis­obe­di­ent, because she had given a friendly wel­come to the spies. [32]And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets– [33]who through faith con­quered king­doms, enforced jus­tice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, [34]quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weak­ness, became mighty in war, put for­eign armies to flight. [35]Women received back their dead by res­ur­rec­tion. Some were tor­tured, refus­ing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a bet­ter life. [36]Others suf­fered mock­ing and flog­ging, and even chains and impris­on­ment. [37]They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, des­ti­tute, afflicted, mis­treated– [38]of whom the world was not worthy–wandering about in deserts and moun­tains, and in dens and caves of the earth. [39]And all these, though com­mended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, [40]since God had pro­vided some­thing bet­ter for us, that apart from us they should not be made per­fect. (ESV)
that popped out at me was that they believed and lived as if they had already received God’s promises even though the real­iza­tion of that full­fil­ment would only hap­pen after they were dead.

I and many who love me keep ask­ing why I con­tinue to strug­gle with poor health. Shouldn’t God heal me? Well, the whole point is, God heals and has already through His Son. I will live as if I have already received the promise even though the real­iza­tion of that full­fil­ment may only hap­pen at the resurrection.

That isn’t to say I will stop tak­ing my Meds or that all my symp­toms will dis­ap­pear or deny they exist. This isn’t a ploy to trick God into heal­ing me now. Rather it is a mat­ter of faith and focus for my life.

I can allow my poor health affect me neg­a­tively, mope around, whim­per and whine, be dep­resed. I can let ill­ness stop me, loose faith and loose focus on God.

Or, I can live life to God’s glory and honor. I can look for and do what­ever He has called me to do because I know that He will enable me to do what­ever He sets me to do. I may not be able to do every­thing I want or the way I think I should but that is only tem­po­rary. For eter­nity I will be whole.

To per­sue health instead of per­su­ing God is wrong. To per­sue God know­ing that He has already taken care of my health is right even when this world and this tem­po­rary body would try to say otherwise.

(wrote this all on my iPhone so there may very well be some typos, will even­tu­ally come back and get them fixed)