I recently lead a devotional on the topic of faith to a group of global workers. After defining faith¹, checking cross-references², and looking up the Greek meaning³, I took them to the Hall of Faith chapter in the Bible and sent them off to reflect of one or more of the well-known characters in that passage.

A few weeks later, a guest speaker (Robert Lugar), referenced this same chapter. Only he added a dimension to faith I missed. He pointed out that after introducing the greats like Abraham and Noah, the author of Hebrews makes two lists of unnamed persons:

Those who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice,
and gained what was promised;
who shut the mouths of lions,
quenched the fury of the flames,
and escaped the edge of the sword;
whose weakness was turned to strength;
and who became powerful in battle
and routed foreign armies.
Women received back their dead, raised to life again.

—Hebrews 11:33–35

There were others who were tortured.  
Some faced jeers and flogging, 
and even chains and imprisonment. 
They were put to death by stoning; 
they were sawed in two; 
they were killed by the sword. 
They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated 
They wandered in deserts and mountains, 
living in caves and in holes in the ground.

—Hebrews 11:35–38

These were ALL commended for their FAITH—those in Column A who experienced obvious victory (conquering kingdoms and raising the dead) as well as those in Column B who suffered apparent defeat (death and destitution).

In other words, God’s recognition of our faith does not depend on what we (or others) consider to be a “successful” outcome.

We can’t choose which column our life will fall into. Our responsibility is only to exercise faith.

How do you tend to measure your faith? What does you life of faith look like?

When I don’t see “results” from my service, I tend to think I just didn’t have enough faith. But I’m so grateful that exercising faith doesn’t mean that I’ll always do amazing feats. Instead, it means I do the next task God has put before me, serve and love those around me, pray for those far away, and trust God with the outcome.

¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).

² 2 Corinthians 4:18; 5:7; Galatians 5:22, 1 Corinthians 12:9

³ Faith (pistis) is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. See https://biblehub.com/greek/4102.htm.