February 23rd Devotion

Crawling by Faith (Hebrews 11:1)
By: Lia Martin

Today’s Bible verse is Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Have you read the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11? It honors a diverse list of ordinary people who pleased God. By what amazing feat did they please the Creator of heaven and earth? By faith.

While reading through this list today in Hebrews 11, I was reminded his Word is alive. Because somehow, if you’re drawn to it, God will speak truth in your soul. He knows better than we do, the reason we find ourselves in front of specific passages…whether it’s in your Bible, on your podcast, even on YouTube. Searching his Word isn’t always because we’re Christians doing our daily task or eager to bask in its blessing. Often, opening the Bible, or queuing up that study, can be a slow and painful admittance that you’ve nowhere else to turn. You’ve forgotten that God sees, or that He cares. Maybe you’ve lost something, or someone, or a sense of belonging.

This past year I’ve often found myself lost…in fear, sadness, and loneliness. Maybe you’ve felt some of this, too. In a world teetering through high-tech, low-touch distancing, we want to run and hide from a master plan that’s outside of our control. Because as we fill agendas, and do right (or so we think), we’re often ambushed by the reality that nothing is certain—other than God. And thank God for that.

Because when betrayal, deception, or rejection whips through your best-laid plans, there is always something worth holding on to by faith: the abiding, everlasting presence of God. It doesn’t matter if you can’t run toward God, or even walk by faith. You can crawl by faith. Breathe your next breath by faith. Hope by faith. Even in the darkest of times. 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us, "For we walk by faith, not by sight.” When reading through the biblical heroes who walked by faith, it became apparent to me that today, I can only crawl. Or lay. My faith has days when my feet are knocked out from under me.

In these times, friend, when you’re maybe only able to breathe your way to the truth, rest in the knowledge that even when you don’t know what your longing is…the Spirit intercedes. You can’t see the Spirit, but you can have confidence, by faith in God’s word, that even your wordless groans are understood. Romans 8:27 reminds you that “the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

If you want to have faith that is pleasing to God, remind yourself that it all belongs to Him. He is the owner of all of it. You gave it all to Him when you chose Jesus. You can’t make people stay, keep them in their faith, or heal them. That’s his work. So, release to him all the days, good and bad. He’s given us the will to choose faith over fear, peace over anxiety, and eternal life over the temptations of the world.

His ways are the origin and meaning of life. His ways are why we marvel at the tiniest treasure, or seemingly insignificant moments thrill us. Let me encourage you now, that whether you can run by faith, walk by faith, or only crawl to the source of eternal life…give it all to him again by praying Psalm 51:10—Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Then ask him to give you the confidence in what you hope for, and the assurance about what you cannot see.