Ron Writes

The well-known list of the triumphs of faith in Hebrews 11 is about how people of God responded during crisis. The faithful response to crisis is what defines them and why they’re to be remembered. Actually, would you know them at all if it wasn’t for their crisis?

  • Would you know anything about Job if not for his trials?
  • Who was Noah without the flood?
  • What would you know about Joseph if not for family jealousies?
  • Everything you know about Moses is defined by Egypt and its aftermath.
  • What would you have remembered about Hanna if she wasn’t barren?
  • Who was Daniel without the lion’s den?
  • Who are Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego without their fiery furnace?
  • Who is Jesus without a cross?
  • Who were the first Christians without their extreme persecution?

Then there’s your story. . . .

Have you heartbreak? Trials? “Don’t be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you… as though some strange thing were happening to you” (1 Pt. 4:12).

Can you think of a generation that hasn’t had to deal with crisis? Wars, depressions and recessions and more wars. Political upheaval is nothing new. Before the 1920s diabetes was a death sentence. We have overcome polio, smallpox, mumps, measles, rubella and more, but at one time they were someone’s crisis. And now Covid-19…. And next?

May the crisis not destroy us, but define us as people of faith, hope and love for God.