A Big God Encourages Big Faith
October 13, 2021·Cecilia Gomez
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real, even if we don’t see it.”
This past year-and-a-half has taught me so much about faith. God used so many moments to grow my faith. One in particular stands out for me. A family member, who is a physician in Spain, contracted the virus while treating patients in the hospital. He became very ill, very quickly. We began to pray for him every night as a family, asking the Lord for a miracle. As we kept praying, he was then placed in ICU. I thought we were going to lose him. It was so hard to stand in faith, when our prayers seemed like they weren’t being answered and all we heard were negative reports. We kept praying and believing for a miracle. BUT GOD! The Lord began to heal him. He was in ICU for 62 days. He left the ICU and was later discharged to continue recovering at home.
God walked us through a range of emotions in those two months. When we received the call that he was being discharged, we were so overwhelmed by God’s goodness.
One very important thing we learned through this experience is that faith is a choice, to believe that the One who made it all, hasn’t left it all, and He still sends light into the shadows and responds to gestures of faith.
Further down in chapter 11 of Hebrews, we find verse 6, where it says, “without faith no one can please God.”
The verse continues to say, “anyone who comes to God must believe that He is real and that He rewards those who truly want to find Him.”
I love that the rest of the chapter gives us examples of those we call Heroes of Faith. None of them were perfect, however, they trusted God and gave their lives to Him.
God’s Word is so encouraging and uplifting. I found myself laughing when I read Hebrews 11:32, where it says, “Do I need to give you more examples?” God is so lovingly patient with us. He gave us great examples of faith, beginning with verse 7 and all the way through verse 31. He dedicates 24 verses, just in this chapter of Hebrews, to encourage us through the faith of all these people in the Bible.
Faith is more than believing in God. It’s also the way we live our lives.
Chapter 12 of Hebrews, verse 1, says, “We have around us many people whose lives tell us what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never give up. God’s help is near and always available, but we have to seek it.”
Verse 2, “Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect,” and this verse ends with… “So do not get tired and stop trying!”
I hope you feel encouraged today to keep running the race. I challenge you to share your stories of faith or do something that demonstrates faith, for faith with no effort is no faith at all.
We love you Church, and we’re praying God will continue to encourage you in growing your faith.
Pastor Cecilia Gomez
