“Faith That Gives Understanding!”

“Faith That Gives Understanding!”(Heb.12:1-7).
As I step out each morning, my faith looks up to thee, thou Lamb of Calvary, Saviour Divine!
Last Tuesday I went to the Bali District hospital for a one month appointment with the doctor. After my vital signs were taken, recording an unprecedented HB pressure, the doctor was worried, not so much about the BP but my low pulse. He was really worried as I could read from his face – even though we cannot read the mind from the face. He referred me to the Regional hospital for heart ultrasound, ECG, and many laboratory tests. Yesterday, when he read through the test results, I asked him, “Dr., does the results show that it’s about time for homecoming?” He laughed as he told me, “Far from it, there is very little to worry about, but it is evident that unknown to you, you had a minor cardiac infraction in the past.”(We don’t have to take you through the rigmarole).
We cannot know it all. Only God knows the end from the beginning, but by faith, we are confident that he is taking us to that end, which he has prepared for us. And by faith, we know we will get there and leave a testimony of Divine commendation. Hallelujah!
Our reflection is from Hebrew chapter 11, popularly called, “The Hall of Faith,” as it outlines the men and women of faith whose faith gives us examples of Divine commendation for faith.
The definition of faith in this chapter is every believer’s guide of faith document. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”
Today’s pericope mentions three of those heroes of faith viz: Abel, Enoch, and Noah.
However, we often ignore the verse that is foundational to the whole chapter: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” This is where faith begins for all of us without exception!
While other creation myths exist outside the Bible, the “Big Bang” theory is not another version of a creation story but a scientific explanation of how an existing matter multiplied itself to be what it has become in about 13 billion years. Thirteen billion years in no way contradict the biblical number of years of the existence of the world since creation. Clearly, a thousand years in God’s “sight is like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night”(Ps.90:4).
Our understanding of how the universe was formed at God’s command determines the way that the universe works for us and how we relate to it. What we see was not made out of what was visible. In the same way, what we hope for is in that place of invisibility from where the visible came from. One faith is rooted there since God had known the end from the beginning. Knowing this makes us do extraordinary things for the LORD to merit his Divine commendation.
Therefore, my friend, keep walking in faith and working in the service of the LORD in faith, and he will commend you like Abel, Enoch, and Noah.
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit, guide me always on the route of unwavering faith. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
28/12/2025.