Un/Belief – “Faith and Good Decisions” 

As we’ve defined it in this series, “faith” is simply living out what I believe to be true – and in the Christian context, it’s living out what I believe to be true about Jesus. Our faith can grow, and as it grows it pushes out fear and worry and anxiety. But our Christian faith should also be the basis for making good decisions in life – and for avoiding regrets. For an example of that, we look at the next character in the Hebrews 11 “faith hall of fame” – Moses – and four decisive moments he faced.

1.  What to Love (Hebrews 11:24-26)

• Moses’ first point of decision came when he learned that he wasn’t really Pharaoh’s grandson, but was actually an Israelite, the son of Pharaoh’s slaves. At that point, Hebrews 11 tells us, he chose to be among his own people and “share their oppression.” But what did he actually decide? At its essence, his decision to identify with his own people was a decision about what to love.
• Faith teaches us what to love. As Augustine wrote, “disordered love” is the source of all of our sin and brokenness. We’re constantly pulled by the world – and by our own sinful nature – to chase after “disordered loves,” but faith teaches us to put God and the way of Jesus first – the right thing to love.

2. When to Wait (Hebrews 11:27)
   
   • After Moses fled Egypt as a 40 year-old, he found himself in Midian where he married and settled into a life as a shepherd. And there he waited – for 40 years – until God called him to go back to Egypt and lead his people out of their bondage.
   • Faith gives us the patience to wait – to be comfortable with where we are in life and with the mission we’ve been given by God here and now – until he leads us forward to something new. Faith teaches us to question our eagerness and to see that God may want to use us right where we are.
3. Who Can Save Us (Hebrews 11:28)
   
   • When faced with the 10^th plague in Egypt, Moses reached the decisive moment of trusting God’s instructions for Passover. By faith, he led the Israelites to sacrifice the Passover lamb and paint their door posts with the blood – a clear picture of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that would free us all.
   • Moses decided to place his faith in God’s way of salvation – in who could save him, and also that he needed saving. Our faith does the same; it teaches us that only Jesus (the true Passover Lamb) can save us from our sinful nature, and that we need saving (and can’t save ourselves…). That’s the foundational message of the Christian faith.
4. When Risk is Right (Hebrews 11:29)
   
   • Moses and the children of Israel followed God’s leading to the edge of the Red Sea, where they seemed to be trapped and about to be overtaken by Pharaoh’s army. Then God opened the sea and invited them to take a risk – to trust him and march across the seabed to freedom.
   • How does our faith grow to the point that we’re ready to take big risks – big steps of faith – when everything around us is telling us to give in to the ways of the world? Simply, it’s by recognizing God’s faithfulness; by looking back and seeing all the ways he’s blessed us and saved us and guided us in the past. As we walk with him and look for his activity in our lives, we grow to trust him and follow his leading – no matter the risk.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

Psalm 32:8-10; Proverbs 3:5-6; Isaiah 30:20-21; Jeremiah 29:11; Luke 14:25-30; Romans 12:2

Video of the Week: Exodus 1-18 by the Bible Project

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

‍

1. How do you typically make decisions – by careful deliberation, weighing all the options, or by “the seat of your pants,” just going with what feels right?  Explain your answer.  

‍

2. What might be some of the downsides of each of those approaches to decision making?  

‍

3. Augustine warned against our “disordered loves” – loving the things and ways of the world as the top priorities in our lives.  How does properly “ordering our loves” help us make good decisions in life?

‍

4. Read Hebrews 11:27 again. How does keeping our eyes “on the one who is invisible” give us patience when we seem to be stuck in one place in our lives?

‍

5. As they huddled in their homes on the night of Passover, the children of Israel knew that they needed God to save them – from slavery and from death. Why is it so hard for us (humans) today to understand that we need God to do the same for us – i.e., that we need to be saved?

‍

6. Verse 27 makes the point that sometimes waiting in place for God is the right answer, and then verse 29 tells the story of how God sometimes wants us to step out and take risks.  So how do we know, as people of faith, when to wait on God and when to take step out and take risks??

‍