Living by Faith Through Trials and Trusting God

Hebrews builds toward the great call of chapter 11 by first saying, “the just shall live by faith.” Faith is not a side part of Christian life. Faith is the banner from start to finish. Christ has opened a new and living way through His blood, so God’s people can draw near with confidence, hold fast their hope, and refuse to throw away that confidence when hard days come.

The fall explains why sickness, death, cruelty, loss, and trouble are still here. Darwin and Ted Turner illustrate how personal tragedy can become a turning point away from God when pain is allowed to define God’s character. Scripture does not promise that faith keeps trouble away. Jesus Himself promised tribulation in this world, but He also declared that He has overcome the world. God remains good in a fallen world, and every trial that touches a child of God has passed through nail scarred hands.

Romans 8 gives the meaning of “all things work together for good.” God’s good is not merely ease, comfort, answered prayers on a preferred timetable, or a trouble free life. God’s good is conformity to the image of Jesus. Suffering, disappointment, self-generated trouble, and burdens thrust upon a person cannot cancel God’s purpose. The seen world is temporary, but the unseen world is eternal. The better possession is not earthly property, health, or success, but the abiding inheritance held in the presence of Christ.

Hebrews 11 defines faith as assurance and conviction concerning what cannot yet be seen. Faith is not bare intellectual agreement. Faith is a willingness to trust in, rely on, and cling to God. Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is settled expectation grounded in the faithfulness of God, who cannot lie.

Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah show that faith trusts God before the evidence arrives. Enoch pleased God by believing that God is there and rewards those who seek Him. Noah built an ark for a flood not yet seen. Abraham went out without knowing where he was going because he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. Sarah conceived because God loves to “stack the deck,” making human impossibility a stage for divine faithfulness.

The saints of old often died without receiving every promise in full, yet they greeted those promises from afar. Their lives confessed that they were strangers and exiles seeking a better homeland. Faith keeps looking beyond the waiting room, beyond unanswered questions, and beyond this passing world until faith becomes sight.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Faith rests on God’s character Faith does not rise or fall with a person’s emotional strength, current circumstances, or ability to understand the whole story. God’s faithfulness is the foundation beneath faith, because He has promised and He does not lie. Confidence grows when the heart looks away from the size of its trouble and toward the character of the God who holds it. [52:02]
• 2. Suffering cannot cancel God’s good God does not call evil good, nor does He deny the real pain of a fallen world. God works even the things that break hearts toward His deeper good, making His children more like Christ. The unanswered question may remain for a season, but divine love has not abandoned the sufferer. [59:37]
• 3. Faith is more than belief Faith means trusting in, relying on, and clinging to God when visible evidence has not yet arrived. Biblical hope is settled expectation, not religious wishing or pretending that pain does not exist. God calls His people to order their lives around promises that remain more certain than present appearances. [1:09:09]
• 4. God rewards those who seek Him Enoch pleased God not by earning a place through extraordinary performance, but by believing that God is there and seeking Him. God’s first call is not to spiritual display but to a real heart that comes near in trust. The God who revealed Himself in Christ welcomes those who earnestly reach for Him. [1:15:22]
• 5. The waiting room is not wasted Abraham and the saints died in faith while still waiting for promises that reached beyond their lifetimes. Their waiting became a witness that this world is not their final home. Eternal perspective gives present endurance because the homeland God has prepared is more solid than every temporary loss. [1:29:18]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [38:34] - Living by Faith in Hebrews
• [39:29] - God Draws Near in Suffering
• [41:30] - Tragedy and the Problem of Evil
• [47:25] - The Just Shall Live by Faith
• [50:24] - Confidence Through Christ’s Blood
• [52:02] - Holding Fast to Hope
• [54:04] - Tribulation and Eternal Glory
• [59:37] - God Works All Things for Good
• [1:06:01] - What Biblical Faith Means
• [1:14:45] - Enoch and Pleasing God
• [1:18:00] - Noah and Abraham Trust God
• [1:24:28] - Righteousness Comes by Faith
• [1:29:18] - The Waiting Room of Faith
• [1:31:16] - Until Faith Becomes Sight

Bible Reading

Hebrews 11:1-16
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

Observation questions

1. What two words does Hebrews 11:1 use to describe faith’s relationship to things hoped for and things not seen? [01:06:09]
2. What actions of faith are highlighted in the lives of Noah, Abraham, and Sarah, even before they saw the outcome God promised? [01:18:05]
3. According to Hebrews 11:6, what two beliefs are necessary for someone who draws near to God?
4. How do verses 13–16 describe the way the faithful people viewed their place in this world and the homeland they were seeking? [01:29:48]

Interpretation questions

1. Why does Hebrews describe faith as assurance and conviction rather than simply agreeing that certain facts about God are true? What does it mean for faith to involve trusting, relying on, and clinging to God? [01:09:04]
2. Enoch pleased God by faith, believing that God exists and rewards those who seek Him. What does this show about the kind of relationship God desires with His people? [01:15:33]
3. Abraham obeyed God without knowing where he was going and lived as a stranger in the promised land. How does his focus on God’s city help explain his willingness to live with uncertainty? [01:21:06]
4. The faithful people in Hebrews 11 did not receive every promise during their earthly lives, yet they continued in faith. How does their example correct the idea that faith guarantees quick answers, comfort, or a trouble-free life? [01:29:42]

Application questions

1. What is one burden, disappointment, or unanswered prayer that has made it hard to trust God’s goodness? How might remembering that God’s good purpose is to make His children more like Christ change the way that burden is viewed? [52:32]
2. Faith rests on God’s character rather than the size of a person’s faith or the strength of his or her emotions. When circumstances feel overwhelming, what specific truths about God can help the heart hold fast to hope? [52:15]
3. Is there an area where faith has become mostly intellectual agreement rather than active reliance on God? What would it look like this week to trust, rely on, and cling to Him in that area? [01:09:09]
4. Noah acted on God’s warning about something he had not yet seen. Is there a clear step of obedience God is calling for now, even though the results are uncertain or delayed? [01:18:05]
5. Abraham went forward without a full map of where God was leading. Where might the desire for certainty be keeping someone from obeying what God has already made clear? [01:18:42]
6. The people of faith saw themselves as strangers and exiles seeking a better homeland. What earthly possession, goal, or comfort can too easily become the main source of security? How can an eternal perspective reshape that priority this week? #!!1:30:02!!