Two kinds of faith
I see two kinds of faith in these verses from Hebrews 11. The more important, by far, is the long range, unchanging faith in God’s person and in God’s plan no matter how long His plan takes. I call this long-range faith. It is the quality of being able to trust God far into the future.
The other kind of faith is short-range. It is the faith of the beginner, the eager new believer who wants everything to happen now! These new creations in Christ Jesus have confessed their faith in Him and have sensed the joy of being forgiven for their sins. They are likely to be taken up with today’s blessings, today’s provision, today’s expectations. As yet, they know little of persecution, temptations, the wiles of devil, the loneliness of minority.
So far, their faith in God is short range, immediate. They have not yet heard of all those heroes of faith who believed, persevered, suffered, clung to all of God’s promises and died in faith not having seen the fulfilment of God’s great plan.
Generally in our Christian circles when we talk about the promises of God, we refer to God’s immediate provision and to blessings for our present needs. But in effect, Christ has said to us, “I have a long-range plan for you! I am asking you to forsake all for Me, transfer every allegiance to Me, trust completely in Me. Then in the day of My triumph and vindication, you will triumph with Me. When I come into My ultimate glory, you will share in that glory!”
Excerpt taken from the book “Jesus, Author of our Faith” written by A.W. Tozer, published by GLS Publishing.
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