Daily Devotional for Sunday, October 30

The Victory of Faith

My wife’s favorite hymn is Victory in Jesus. The hymnist writes, “He loved me ere, I knew him and all my love is due him, He plunged me to victory, beneath the cleansing flood.” The Hebrews’ writer hints of this same phenomena when he asserts, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (verse 1). Hero after hero in the Bible lived similar lives to you and me. They struggled with society that ran counter to their own values. They faced trials, had the opportunity to do good, overcame great obstacles and even fought for freedom. They have many names we know like Rahab, Gideon, David, but many a godly hero throughout history is nameless. The writer of the book of Hebrews honors these nameless heroes of the faith in verse 38, “(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” 

That they are unnamed does not discount their lives or the actions spurred by their belief in God. Most of us will pass into history without our spiritual victories being hailed. Perhaps our children may remember and, at a reach, maybe even our grandchildren, but that is ok. The victories of our spiritual lives may have happened to us but they are the victories of faith in Almighty God. 

Jesus is the story that matters to the heroes of the faith. They had the faith necessary to gain the victories, and their stories are the evidence that things which they could not see could come to pass. Many a son became the “substance” (verse 1) of a godly mother’s prayer and yet other generations will sing of the victories of faith while we wait for our Lord’s appearing. 

REFLECTION: What victories are occurring in your life because of your belief in God?

David Thompson