“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
So faith is an overarching trust and assurance in God and his truths as revealed to us in his precious Word. Hebrews 11:2 goes on to say that Faith is “what the ancients were commended for.”
I have often marveled at the faith displayed by those in the Bible. Hebrews goes on to list a “hall of faith” and many are so obvious, but some require study. I recently came upon Hebrews 11:32 and there are several in the hall of faith that I immediately recognize; Gideon, Sampson, David and the list goes on. However, I was drawn to one name in particular; Barak.
I must admit I didn’t readily recognize Barak or his story so I started digging trying to determine why he was in God’s hall of faith. To find the story you must go to Judges 4 and 5. If you do you find out he was tasked to lead an Army of 10,000 men against the oppressive king. Barak was a little hesitant to do such a thing and was summoned by Deborah the judge and prophetess. Deborah questions Barak about leading the men and Barak says I will go if you go. Well in this culture it was unheard of to ask a woman to go and lead an army.
So they go and Deborah tells Barak now is the time the Lord has given to lead the men into battle. Barak goes leading the army and destroys the army of the oppressive king. Yet, I still ask why was Barak listed in the hall of faith and not Deborah? As I read and studied and prayed I saw a couple of things.
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Even a weak faith can be used for the Glory of God
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Weak faith can be strengthened by trusting in the word(s) of God
Father, thank you for your Word, thank your for the example of Barak and the knowledge that our faith and trust and obedience can be strengthened through Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. All for your Glory!
Grace and Peace!
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