Hebrews 11:4-7

4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

Faith can be a tricky thing. As someone who grew up a Christian, I was taught about the

importance of faith. As a kid I never really understood it because, how was I supposed to believe in things that I could not see. My Sunday school teachers would teach us about faith and then tell us a story like Moses or Paul. If I was blinded by a bright light and then the voice of God told me to obey, I think having faith would be pretty easy. Growing up I always wanted to hear God. I wanted so desperately to hear God so then my faith journey would be much easier. If I could just hear God one time, then I’d be all in. What I failed to understand was that often hearing God is not the precursor to faith but instead is the result of faith. Granted there are exceptions, and our brother Paul is a beautiful example of that. He was actively persecuting Christians when God spoke to him. For me though what I came to realize was that God had been speaking to me for

years. I wanted God to speak but it took me 17 years before I ever took the time to listen. For many, myself included, God does not speak audibly but that does not mean God doesn’t speak.

My prayer for us this week is that we would take the time to slow down and listen for the still small voice of God.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Lake