Three Keys to a Happy Pilgrim

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (Heb 11:13 AV)

 

To die in faith means to die, having our faith manifested by faithfulness.  As one goes through the list of the faith-filled saints in Hebrews chapter eleven, one will see people who never failed to thrust the LORD.  At least as a pattern of life.  They may have had personal failures along the way.  Like Gideon or Abraham.  But their lives were defined by a pattern of believing God.  Abraham may have waivered with Hagar, but God forgave him for that and they continued on.  Gideon may have compromised a bit after his great defeat of his enemies, but his life was a testament to his faith in God.  There are three keys necessary for promises to work.  First, they have to be seen.  That is, they have to be seen with eyes of faith.  We must believe God can do it and will do it.  Second, we have to be persuaded.  There can be no arguments that will work to dissuade us from the eventual of those promises.  Third, they must be embraced.  They have to be the very definition and motivation for our faith and worked out in faithfulness towards the LORD.

I am no pilot by any means imaginable.  I have flown a plane only once but that was under the guise of a qualified instructor.  However, in my younger days, I spent hours playing flight simulators.  When one begins, the program is quite forgiving.  Taking off and landing are not difficult to learn.  At least at first.  If the student pilot desires to learn true skills, he has to learn flying IFR.  Or, solely by instruments.  He or she learns to use the gauges and GPS onboard rather than rely on visual references.  That is referred to as VFR.  Again, I am no pilot, but I found it easier to learn to fly IFR than VFR.  The reason being, IFR was far more consistent than my perception.  This is particularly so when landing.  There is a point when one approaches the runway for a landing and perception is dramatically skewed.  Being able to land IFR, to me at least, is far more stabilizing than VFR.  One of the skills the player can learn is to pick an airport and approach based on the GPS map.  Different symbols mean different things.  One can know the size of the runway by the symbols indicated on the GPS.  The pilot can determine the correct runway to use for landing as opposed to taking off.  What the pilot must do is to believe the information presented to him on his GPS.  He has to see and acknowledge the information to be correct and trustworthy.  As he listens to air traffic control, he received further instruction.  He is then persuaded his choice of an airstrip and the direction of approach is correct.  He adjusts his altitude as instructed and lowers the landing gear.  But there comes a time he embraces all the information and instruction given and sets the airplane down.  It is seeing, being convinced, and embracing all he needs that gets that plane safely on the ground and to the terminal.  Note, it is called a terminal.  The flight does not end until the plane terminates at its only destination.

In much the same way, our lives by faith in God, require the same thing.  When we read of truth or promises in the word of God, how do we process it?  Do we spend a great deal of energy debating it, putting the Holy Spirit on trial, and demand an answer?  Do we have a wait-and-see attitude?  Do we acknowledge the truth of promise yet refuse to live in that truth or promise until we see someone else test it?  All those listed in Hebrews chapter eleven were pioneers.  No one else but Abraham left their land of nativity to embrace a promised inheritance.  No one else but Gideon faced an army outnumbering him thousands to one with nothing more than lanterns and ceramic pots.  No one but David faced off a giant with nothing more than a slingshot and stones.  These men and ladies took God at His word, decided to end the debate in their minds of the trustworthiness of God, and embraced the promises spoken to them.  The writer of Hebrews encourages the N.T. saint to do the same.  For us to remain faithful, we must see the promises, don’t argue against the promises, and embrace the promises.  It is the only way to have peace in a world of trouble.