Trusting, Part 3

The role of faith’s all-stars doesn’t end with the epitaph of their testimonies. Their dying was a beginning. Chapter twelve of Hebrews informs us that these great men and women of faith are now gathered in the grandstands of heaven cheering for us. These are not Monday morning, armchair quarterbacks.

No doubt about it. Life sometimes appears grim from our vantage point. Hope appears to be losing to disappointment. But these folks who have gone before us felt the martyr’s flames, the torturer’s cruelty, the teeth of the lions, and tasted the dirt of the arena as they died in degradation and derision. All this they experienced without seeing God fulfill His promise, yet they believed.

Like them, we will trust God to the extent our faith in God is challenged.

We’re in a big game and the crowd is into it. The angels offer support, but the all-stars shout exhortations. They ran the race, scaled the cliffs, forded the torrents, and faced the barriers that impede us. They would not lie to us. They have nothing further to gain, but we have a great deal to lose.

So, stand encouraged.

Their lives are a megaphone calling out the next cheer for the visiting team, and that’s us. This place is not our home. We’re only visiting this planet.

Soon, we too will be in heaven’s grandstands where a faith all-star has a seat reserved next to him.