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Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
There’s a joke some use in our culture to express a confidence about what they will do the following day. For example, somebody may quip, “Remember that one time when I went out to buy a new car tomorrow?” It’s spoken as a future event but with a humorous sense that it has already happened.
The Greek for the word confidence in Hebrews 11:1 is somewhat unique. Other English versions translate this word as assurance, or reality, or certainty. It is an inward attitude. It’s not a wish of what might happen, but an assurance of what will happen. Not in humor, but in absolute confidence.
While we do not know the author of the Book of Hebrews, he was likely very educated and knew this kind of language parallels that of Isaiah 9. This brief section in Isaiah are written in what scholars refer to as the prophetic perfect. They are events which are described as being in the future yet also written as if they’ve already happened. They were written with the confidence and assurance that they would happen.
READING & PRAYERS:
HEBREWS 11:1, ISAIAH 9:2-7 (also read the commentary notes in your Study Bible of choice.)
QUESTION: Take the opportunity to examine your current hopes. How may God be inviting you to not only hope, but to grow in confidence that what you hope for will actually happen?
DIGGING DEEPER: Trying to control a person or a situation to your desired outcome isn’t hoping for something, it’s more likely manipulation. How may God be inviting you to give up control and instead maintain a confident hope?
Take a Step: Practice listening to God by utilizing the One Minute Pause app at least twice a day.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I acknowledge there are some days in which I have tremendous confidence that Your will be done. Days in which I experience peace and contentment beyond measure. Yet there are also days in which I live as if there is nothing to hope for. May I grow in confidence that Your hopes and desires will come to fruition, and that I will get to experience the fulness of Your hopes! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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