“All these people were living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.” Hebrews 11:23 NASB
How many promises do we see God give in the Bible? I feel so discouraged when I don’t see Him follow through in my life. I feel let down and hopeless at times. But Hebrews tells us that even the greatest of those in the faith did not receive God’s promises. They are to be delivered in the Kingdom of God. We are not to be tied down to this life as Satan and defiance to God has a strong presence on this current earth. We will be made full heirs to His promises in the world to come.
We are aliens in this world. How much more so will the future generation be? Raising our children in the way they should go (God’s way) will lead them to much hardship and persecution in this life. We must teach them that the promises of God to come far outweigh the temporary feelings of this life. It is our charge to teach them to continue in faith.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the convictions of things not seen.” Our eyes need to be on our Creator to realize that the best is and will come later and God ALWAYS delivers on his promises. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is not slow to deliver, but ultimately HIS TIMING is best for those to come to repentance.
Abraham never saw his decendants, Paul never witnessed Jesus’s return, and the early persecuted church was never delivered of the excrutiating pain endured for the sake of the gospel. But all of those promises WILL come to fruition and will be seen from God’s kingdom. Our children need to see us putting our faith into practice and keeping our eyes set on the eternal promises of God.
Through the absence of seeing promises fulfilled now “give thanks to the Lord, His love endures forever.”
