The Flawed Faithful

Hebrews 11, the Heroes Hall of Faith, is a record of men and women whom God used. They were ordinary people like us who did extraordinary things. They faced incredibly adverse circumstances like we do, but they rose above those circumstances and changed their world.

They weren’t perfect people. They were far from it in fact. They failed often. They’re not in the Heroes Hall of Faith because they were great people; they are there because they had faith in a great God.

They have two things in common with us: they were really flawed, and they had faith and used it. Think for a moment about who these men and women were when the Lord called them. Gideon was a frightened farmer when the angel told him he would be a man of courage. Moses was a fugitive from justice when the Lord spoke to him. Yet not one mention is made of any of their sins.

When Samson is mentioned, we don’t read about his downfall with Delilah. When David is mentioned, we don’t read about his adultery with Bathsheba. And we don’t read about the problems with Abraham, who lied about his wife twice (a behavior repeated by his son). We don’t read that Sarah laughed at the promise of God or that Moses lost his temper and killed a man.

We only read of their great exploits of faith. These world changers didn’t always collect medals. Sometimes they collected scars.

Their stories remind us that God doesn’t just see us for what we are. He also sees us for what we can become. Could we change our world? I believe we can—if we will step up and start using our faith. God wants to use us—if we will take our faith and apply it.