Hebrews 11:13-16 All these died in faith [guided and sustained by it], without receiving the [tangible fulfillment of God’s] promises, only having seen (anticipated) them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth…

Look at the “hall of Faith” in Hebrews chapter 11. Notice that most of the faithful did not see the completion of their faith in their lifetime. That didn’t stop them from living in faith and obeying God in the hard stuff. They failed at times, but that didn’t stop them from believing in God and being faithful overall. Notice how Paul says our faith is built in Romans 10:17- so faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

Would you agree that we often can’t control the outcome of specific situations or even our entire lives, but we can control our actions and our obedience? Not that our actions or obedience guarantees any specific outcome, especially not salvation. That comes only from the work of Jesus, and nothing of our own doing.

But we can control our response to God’s call for obedience, and we do this by faith. By faith, we can obey God, even when it’s hard. By faith, we can obey God by being patient and supportive spouses, even if our marriage is troubled or ends in divorce. By faith, we can thoughtfully raise our children to be sensible and love Jesus, even when they stray far from responsibility or from God. By faith, we can give of our financial resources or our time, even if we never see material prosperity or the fruits of our labor. No matter the outcome, in all these circumstances or more, we can affirm that obeying God is hard but worth it, even if we must wait until the other side of eternity to appreciate it fully.

Faith expects from God what is beyond all expectations.- Andrew Murray