11 Improbable Heroes that Give Me Hope

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Hebrews 11:32-34 (ESV)

11 Improbable Heroes of the Faith

Sometimes when we think of the giants of the faith in the bible, we put on our rose-tinted shades and focus only on the amazing feats of faith they accomplished. What they believed God for and overcame with His help was truly incredible!

And they should be honored and remembered, but at the same time, we can keep in mind that they were also ordinary people who made mistakes and took wrong turns and didn’t always do the right thing. These people were seriously messed up!

BUT, they believed in an extraordinary God and trusted Him when He told them that He would be with them.

Transformation

They let God take their mess and transform them into heroes of the faith. Sometimes over and over again in a cycle of wrong move – forgiveness – faith – miracle – huge sin – repentance – belief in God – overcoming obstacles…

Most of the time, I think “I could never be like them”, but I make mistakes, take wrong turns, and fall flat on my face too. I believe in the same God they did and He still has power to do incomprehensible greatness in spite of me and through me.

It’s not me

It’s not me. It’s Him. He’s in the business of taking messed up people and making them heroes of the faith. I am volunteering (or rather, He’s already drafted me – and you, too!) for a transformation like that. All He needs me to do is trust Him and take action where He tells me to.

Here are 11 Heroes of the Faith Who Give Me Hope:

1. Noah – Amazing faith with the whole “build a big boat when it has never rained before and fill it a million animals” thing. Yea! But then he gets right off the boat, plants a vineyard, gets stinkin’ stupid drunk, and ends up cursing his own son. God calls him a hero of the faith anyway. (Genesis 6-9)

2. Abraham – Leave everything you know and travel mobile-home style wherever God tells you – Great faith! Trusting God when He says your descendants will be as many as the stars in the sky – not so much. He ends up sleeping with his wife’s maid and creating a rivalry that is still causing wars today. Then, he comes back again with so much faith he is willing to sacrifice the son promised him on God’s command. God calls him a friend and says his belief makes him righteous. (Genesis 12-22)

3. Sarah – Abraham’s wife and a hot mess herself. She laughed at him when the angel told them she would have a son. She arranged for her husband to sleep with her maid because she was having trouble believing that she, an old woman, could be used by God to provide Abraham’s promised descendants. God causes her to conceive and be the mother of His chosen nation. God called her blessed and commended her faith. (Genesis 12-22)

4. Isaac – He gets nervous and lies about his wife to a king. He almost starts a war and gets a country cursed. Through his faith, he blesses generations, when he proclaims a blessing on each of his two sons. (Genesis 26)

5. Jacob – Liar. Deceiver. All-around con-man trained by his manipulative mother. But, he believes in the power of God’s blessing so much that he wrestles all night for it. God changes His name to Israel and his sons are foundations of the tribes of Israel. Talk about a heritage of faith! (Genesis 25-49)

6. Joseph – Snotty brat brags about his dreams and manages to get himself roughed up, almost murdered, sold into slavery, wrongly accused of sexual crimes, and imprisoned. God takes him from the lowest low and makes him second in command of the nation of Egypt. Then, He uses Joseph to rescue the entire nation of Israel. (Genesis 37-50)

7. Moses – A murderer with a speech impediment, Moses was an unlikely choice for challenging the reigning pharoah in Egypt and delivering the nation of Israel from slavery. He still made mistakes in leadership after the exodus from Egypt and had to be forgiven repeatedly. Yet, one of the most famous heroes of the faith in the bible. (Exodus)

8. Rahab – A prostitute turned spy for God, she was certainly not guiltless, but God chose her to help His people. She gained the favor of God and a blessing for her family. (Joshua 2)

9. Samson – A big, strong man who has done incredible feats with the gifts God has given him is taken down by his weakness for the opposite sex. Even after imprisonment and torture, God uses him to take out His enemies in one moment. (Judges 13-16)

10. David – This one really gets me. God’s chosen king of Israel had a life full of ups and downs. He lusted after a woman as a “peeping tom” and orchestrated her husband’s death so he could get her in the sack. He had issues! But God called him “a man after My own heart.”

11. Paul – Self-righteous murderer of Christians turned champion of Christ. He was the last person you would expect God to use to pen the majority of the New Testament, but God did.

These heroes of the faith prove that I don’t need to be perfect or even a likely choice for God to use. I need to believe God and be willing to take action when lead by him. That gives me hope.

Action Step:

Let go of the belief that your past makes you unworthy of being God’s choice. That belief is at war with belief in God. He is powerful enough even to use you and me. Think of one thing you feel God is leading you to do that you have been putting off because of fear or guilt and take the first step now. Do it today.

Prayer:

Dear God, thank you that you use imperfect people over and over again in the bible. Rather than them being obstacles, bring glory to your name through our imperfections and problems. Help us to step out in faith today so You can work through us. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Okay, I have to give a shout-out to Pastor Hal Santos (Grace Church, Fairview Heights, IL) for the text of my bible art journaling from today. Last Sunday, he preached on Hebrews 11, and I loved the points he made. So, I took notes and then made them a part of my art journaling this week. I actually really like this approach to bible art journaling. It can solve the problem of being paralyzed about where to start or what to journal next.

Simply go to church or listen to a sermon online or read one of the devotionals on this site. Take some notes, see what God makes jump out to you and think about it. Maybe there is a picture already in your head or you google it to see what others have done, but it gets the ball rolling. A huge side benefit is that you will remember the points from a sermon or devotional much longer when you have taken notes on it, thought about it, and created art from it. Awesome! We are hiding God’s word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him.