Faith in Action: Three Days on Hebrews 11Sample

The Role of Faith in the Pursuit of Justice

The unknown can feel a bit scary. If you’ve ever made an important decision—choosing a school, interviewing with a company, moving to a new city—perhaps you can relate. I used to resist change and hold tight to what thought I could control, but I learned that change would happen anyway—and often, what happened next turned out to exceed my hopes and expectations. I’ve learned to assume an open-handed posture—prying my fingers from a fist to an open palm—as a release of control and demonstration of faith in whatever God wants to do in a situation.

Faith, as we learn in Hebrews 11, is a confident belief in things not yet tangible or visible to us. It means more than understanding God’s existence and making a one-time decision to trust in God’s promises. It looks like more than following a set of rules.

Faith involves an active pursuit of God—a relationship and a willingness to set aside our agenda to follow God’s lead, even when we can’t see the outcome or know for sure that it will turn out the way we hope. Faith acknowledges that our actions impact the lives of those around us.

Faith compels us to act in accordance with God’s character. The stories we read in the Bible point to God’s character and illuminate for us the injustices of this world. By faith, we act justly—working to make things right for all people, regardless of their circumstances—even if it costs us.

Application:

Spend time today reflecting on your faith journey:

·What compels your belief?

·Remember a time when it seemed that God asked something of you that you didn’t understand. What was the outcome?

·Have you benefitted from someone else taking a step of faith? What did that person do, and how did their actions impact your life?

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