Living In A Place Of The Unknown
Hebrews 11:1-13 Amplified Bible (AMP)
1NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].2For by [faith--trust and holy fervor born of faith] the men of old had divine testimony borne to them and obtained a good report. 3By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible. 4[Prompted, actuated] by faith Abel brought God a better and more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, because of which it was testified of him that he was righteous [that he was upright and in right standing with God], and God bore witness by accepting and acknowledging his gifts. And though he died, yet [through the incident] he is still speaking. 5Because of faith Enoch was caught up and transferred to heaven, so that he did not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For even before he was taken to heaven, he received testimony [still on record] that he had pleased and been satisfactory to God. 6But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. 7[Prompted] by faith Noah, being forewarned by God concerning events of which as yet there was no visible sign, took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared an ark for the deliverance of his own family. By this [his faith which relied on God] he passed judgment and sentence on the world's unbelief and became an heir and possessor of righteousness (that relation of being right into which God puts the person who has faith). 8[Urged on] by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went forth to a place which he was destined to receive as an inheritance; and he went, although he did not know or trouble his mind about where he was to go. 9[Prompted] by faith he dwelt as a temporary resident in the land which was designated in the promise [of God, though he was like a stranger] in a strange country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was [waiting expectantly and confidently] looking forward to the city which has fixed and firm foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God. 11Because of faith also Sarah herself received physical power to conceive a child, even when she was long past the age for it, because she considered [God] Who had given her the promise to be reliable and trustworthy and true to His word. 12So from one man, though he was physically as good as dead, there have sprung descendants whose number is as the stars of heaven and as countless as the innumerable sands on the seashore.13These people all died controlled and sustained by their faith, but not having received the tangible fulfillment of [God's] promises, only having seen it and greeted it from a great distance by faith, and all the while acknowledging and confessing that they were strangers and temporary residents and exiles upon the earth.
I can appreciate that most of you took a look at the scripture alone and said that alone was enough reading to last you the day and some of you said a month. But for me it was funny as I began to read the scriptures this morning, I read verse one and then it went to five then from five to ten then from ten to thirteen. It was like God was allowing me to see that living in a place (like many of us are), of the unknown is like you come into things not having a clue of the possibilities that lay ahead nor exactly where you are going. It is here, you just have to trust God as you go and keep progressing as He leads you. But just as I felt I should have done things a certain way, God will show us the path and the course that really gets us to the place that He wants us to go, to receive the fullness of what He intends. As I sat down on Sunday, and I began to think about this season in my life I noticed it was one of the most awkward, unbalanced seasons where logic and what we would identify as common sense is not prevailing. Our senses do us little good in this season. I have found that the only way that I am surviving is by faith, and is by an unhindered trust in God.
Sometimes we feel like we are floundering or even out of the will of God when we are in a season when we cannot predict anything, and things are happening to us and around us and we have no clue why. But it is not that we are out of the will, it is normally when we are in God’s will that we can’t figure it out. God wants our faith, not just in words but in action. He wants us to trust Him in a way that means walking by blind faith. I am not saying we should not try to plan, but in this type of season, God usually will laugh at our plans, because His intention is so far above ours and His thoughts for us are so far beyond our comprehension He protects us from fear and doubt and even running in the opposite direction by bringing us along step by step, phase by phase, faith level by faith level. We live in a place of the unknown by God’s design; it is by God’s authorization and His desire to get us where we would sometimes not go on our own. Living in the unknown means we have to live by faith and believe for the impossible and even have to submit to things that we have no clue that we even needed to accomplish the mandate and will of God in our lives.
I like to say don’t despise the process, because it brings about production and performance. Living in the unknown or seasons of the unknown are a part of many of our processes, it is getting us to go when we would stay, and it is pushing us to believe when we would have never had a need. It forces us to walk in blind faith when we would otherwise stay seated. Don’t distress because we can’t see the whole picture or even know where you are going or how we are going to get there. Let God lead you and guide you, let Him take you there in His timing and His way. Trust Him and have faith, faith that allows us to know that God will bring you into a place of knowing and in a place of His will for us. Come out a little further with God, go a little longer with God for that is where the promise is, that is where the place of blessing is!
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