Hebrews chapter 11 came to mind as soon as I began to meditate on the number 11 and its’ connection to God’s promises. This chapter did not hit in the way one would ordinarily think of it. Hebrews 11 is usually said to be about the fathers of faith, you know…Abel, Enoch, Noah and of course the father of faith, the patriarch, Abraham. But all of these had to begin their faith journey somewhere. Some encounter of a faithful God had to fuel their hope: their faithfulness to a belief that what God promised He would complete. The thing is God’s promises are according to His timing. It’s what happens in the in-between that matters to Him.
The Lord already knows what He is stirring up in us as we are confronted with the wrestle of the wait. Ha! As I am typing this, I see the Wrestle Of the Wait, this W.O.W. moment. It is in the WOW that we are changed. The WOW! God, what are you doing moments! The WOW! I can’t believe I am going through these moments! The WOW! God, I need a miracle moment! Something happens in the WOW moments….if we let it happen, it will change us to be people of faith. Many credible teachers also indicate the number 11 is about transition. I would surmise that the 11 promises of God leads us to an 11th time of transition moment. If you have done a study or heard a preaching about the time duration from the moment God promised to the time of fulfillment, you often hear numbers like 25 years, 75 years and for us it has been 2000 plus years. I believe it has been in the window of waiting (another WOW) where our faith has truly been tested to produce what is important to God, enduring and tested faith according to 1 Peter 1:7 which says, " So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to rebound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed."
Look at how Holy Spirit inspired this scripture to say YOUR FAITH, WHICH IS INFINITELY MORE PRECIOUS THAN PERISHABLE GOLD. God is a God of promises, but He is a God concerned with faith. His Word says in Hebrews 11:6-7 (I didn’t know this verse was in Hebrews 11) "But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him. By faith [with confidence in God and His word] Noah, being warned by God about events not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his family. By this [act of obedience] he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith."
God took note of Noah who “took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared an ark for the salvation.” Noah was ridiculed, mocked, and persecuted as he waited for the promise that God said He would do, which was to “bring rain upon the earth.” David was hunted and almost killed while he waited to be king. Joseph sat in jail while he waited to be promoted. And Abraham sojourned, passing his wife off as his sister, for fear of being murdered on account of her while he waited to be the father of nations. The Bible gives pretty good details of these heroes of faith and their WOW moments of testing. They didn’t get to experience the 11 of God’s promises without having their 11 moment of transition so that they are now in the Hall of Faith. Maybe you are in a WOW moment and you are asking how much longer, while you just have to hang on to hope.
Romans 4:16-24
Therefore, [inheriting] the promise is the outcome of faith and depends [entirely] on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants—not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is [thus] the father of us all. As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. [He was appointed our father] in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed.[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So [numberless] shall your descendants be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or [when he considered] the barrenness of Sarah’s [deadened] womb. No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised. That is why his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).But [the words], It was credited to him, were written not for his sake alone, but [they were written] for our sakes too. [Righteousness, standing acceptable to God] will be granted and credited to us also who believe in (trust in, adhere to, and rely on) God, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Life Application:
I love Romans 4 because it says that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteous not for his sake but for MY sake! I get to look at the dead things in this life and take hold of faith to see things like Abraham and believe it will be resurrected! WOW! It is the 11 moment of transition that made these fathers of faith to walk, talk, and live differently. Let’s ask God to give us the faith to hope in God’s promises and to be changed in the WOW moments of our life!
Let's Pray:
Holy Spirit, You who leads and guides into all truth; Lead our hearts into Truth. Comforter, comfort us as we wait for the promises to come to pass and let us be changed and conformed into the image of God in the process. In Jesus' name, AMEN.