November 29th, 2023
There’s something even more remarkable than mountaintop faith.
Consider the elderly saint who faithfully cared for his wife with dementia for year after year; then, after her death, was diagnosed with cancer but remained joyful and faithful to the Lord during this years-long battle, encouraging others in the process, until he was finally released from pain, weakness, and illness and entered the next life.
Consider the missionary who served, year after year, in an unreached, difficult country, in the process, losing his first wife and their three children all before they turned two. He suffered imprisonment, sickness, and fruitless ministry for almost a decade. After remarrying a missionary widow, he also buried her on the mission field eleven years later. He lived to see some fruit from his ministry, but died from a violent, convulsing lung infection on a boat far from his family and friends.
Consider the young slave woman, who during the reign of a godless emperor experienced unthinkable persecution and brutality. She had been imprisoned for her faith, tortured by soldiers, and exposed as bait for wild animals in the amphitheater, yet she remained faithful, even encouraging older and physically stronger martyrs around her until she finally gave up the ghost.
These could be added to the list of those “…of whom the world was not worthy” – Tom Walczak of Egg Harbor City, NJ, 18th century missionary Adoniram Judson, and 2nd century martyr Blandina of Lyons.
Why? They endured.
Let’s be honest. None of us want to sign up for long-term trials, violent death, or a lifetime of sorrow and difficulty. We’d love to join the Faith All-Star team made up of Enoch, Moses, Gideon, and Barak, but Team Abel? Not so much. Yes, there are accounts of great feats of faith, but frankly, there are many more stories of faith’s perseverance. The author of Hebrews includes these:
“Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:35b-38)
Though these people are unspecified in the text, Old Testament saints and intertestamental figures would quickly come to mind for these Hebrew readers. Jeremiah was tortured. Isaiah was sawn in half. Zechariah, son of Jehoida was stoned. The wicked Queen Jezebel killed many prophets by the sword. Elijah and Elisha wandered in sheepskins and goatskins and were “destitute, afflicted, and tormented.” Seven Maccabean martyrs were cruelly tortured by Antiochus Epiphanes during the Maccabean revolt, and they refused to give up their faith, looking for a “better resurrection.”
The New Testament era adds to the list. Paul was stoned, imprisoned, scourged, and eventually martyred. Peter was crucified upside-down. John was exiled far from home. Stephen was stoned. James, the brother of Jesus was martyred, probably by being beaten to death.
Christians today endure imprisonment in countries hostile to the Gospel. Converts in the Muslim world face abandonment, disownment, and even martyrdom. Increasingly, Christians in the Western corporate world are experiencing the loss of jobs, advancements, and friendships for living out their faith publicly.
These may be extreme cases to us, but here’s the point – we are all called to endure. Every one of us has been in the valley. If you’ve lived any amount of time, you’ve experienced loss, hurt, sickness, injustice, and difficulty. Every one of us is in a personal race. It’s unique, and uniquely challenging. Only you and God truly understand. But the author of Hebrews exhorts us to “run with endurance the race set before us.” And there’s no other way to learn endurance than in the valley. To borrow a phrase from a contemporary space Western, “This is the way.”
That’s what Job learned in the valley. So in conclusion, consider this beautiful expression of enduring faith: “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)
Consider the elderly saint who faithfully cared for his wife with dementia for year after year; then, after her death, was diagnosed with cancer but remained joyful and faithful to the Lord during this years-long battle, encouraging others in the process, until he was finally released from pain, weakness, and illness and entered the next life.
Consider the missionary who served, year after year, in an unreached, difficult country, in the process, losing his first wife and their three children all before they turned two. He suffered imprisonment, sickness, and fruitless ministry for almost a decade. After remarrying a missionary widow, he also buried her on the mission field eleven years later. He lived to see some fruit from his ministry, but died from a violent, convulsing lung infection on a boat far from his family and friends.
Consider the young slave woman, who during the reign of a godless emperor experienced unthinkable persecution and brutality. She had been imprisoned for her faith, tortured by soldiers, and exposed as bait for wild animals in the amphitheater, yet she remained faithful, even encouraging older and physically stronger martyrs around her until she finally gave up the ghost.
These could be added to the list of those “…of whom the world was not worthy” – Tom Walczak of Egg Harbor City, NJ, 18th century missionary Adoniram Judson, and 2nd century martyr Blandina of Lyons.
Why? They endured.
Let’s be honest. None of us want to sign up for long-term trials, violent death, or a lifetime of sorrow and difficulty. We’d love to join the Faith All-Star team made up of Enoch, Moses, Gideon, and Barak, but Team Abel? Not so much. Yes, there are accounts of great feats of faith, but frankly, there are many more stories of faith’s perseverance. The author of Hebrews includes these:
“Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:35b-38)
Though these people are unspecified in the text, Old Testament saints and intertestamental figures would quickly come to mind for these Hebrew readers. Jeremiah was tortured. Isaiah was sawn in half. Zechariah, son of Jehoida was stoned. The wicked Queen Jezebel killed many prophets by the sword. Elijah and Elisha wandered in sheepskins and goatskins and were “destitute, afflicted, and tormented.” Seven Maccabean martyrs were cruelly tortured by Antiochus Epiphanes during the Maccabean revolt, and they refused to give up their faith, looking for a “better resurrection.”
The New Testament era adds to the list. Paul was stoned, imprisoned, scourged, and eventually martyred. Peter was crucified upside-down. John was exiled far from home. Stephen was stoned. James, the brother of Jesus was martyred, probably by being beaten to death.
Christians today endure imprisonment in countries hostile to the Gospel. Converts in the Muslim world face abandonment, disownment, and even martyrdom. Increasingly, Christians in the Western corporate world are experiencing the loss of jobs, advancements, and friendships for living out their faith publicly.
These may be extreme cases to us, but here’s the point – we are all called to endure. Every one of us has been in the valley. If you’ve lived any amount of time, you’ve experienced loss, hurt, sickness, injustice, and difficulty. Every one of us is in a personal race. It’s unique, and uniquely challenging. Only you and God truly understand. But the author of Hebrews exhorts us to “run with endurance the race set before us.” And there’s no other way to learn endurance than in the valley. To borrow a phrase from a contemporary space Western, “This is the way.”
That’s what Job learned in the valley. So in conclusion, consider this beautiful expression of enduring faith: “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)
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