Faith of Hero's

There are many memorable stories of faith in the Bible. Hebrews 11 often times referred to as the Hall of Fame of Faith recounts many of the stories of bible characters demonstrating faith. These are the stories that we like to tell our children. We like to talk about David and Goliath, Peter walking on the water, Daniel in the Lions Den and of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace. These are tremendous stories that demonstrate faith and the power of God. So often these characters seem unreal. The question that creeps up in my mind is, “Could I ever do that?”, and often times the answer is no. I think it is important to realize that these massive moments of faith came after walking with God and demonstrating faith in everyday events. Peter had chosen to follow Jesus and was listening and learning from Jesus every day. Then he stepped out on faith to walk on water. The rest of the story is that he started to sink, and Jesus saved him. Peter is like us growing in his faith every day. Daniels friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego had remained faithful to God in a foreign country where the king was trying to indoctrinate them with his belief. They were only able to stand up to the king in the face of a fiery furnace because they had learned to walk with God day by day. When David defeated Goliath, he was fresh out of the field. David had been a shepherd. He learned to use a sling. He wrote psalms and sang about the goodness of God. Defeating Goliath was only an extension of David’s private relationship with God. Great feats of faith don’t just happen. We don’t just wake up one day had have a tremendous faith in God. We invest in our faith in God learning to trust him more each day. The longer we walk with God the more we understand his promises to be true. We learn that God is faithful, and we learn that we are finite. As you look at the faith of hero’s in the Bible, realize that they are real people with real struggles just like me and you. They exercised their faith little by little, day by day. Exercise your faith in God today.