With yesterday’s reading we were introduced to the first inductees into the gallery of faith. Abel, Enoch and Noah come to us from the first few chapters of Genesis – the pre-flood world. Today’s reading introduces us to the faith of the patriarchs – the fathers of the Hebrew nation – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.

Faith changes everything. It changes the world. It will change your circumstances and the world around you too. That’s the great takeaway from today’s reading. Faith is the “because factor” that set the enslaved people of Israel free.  

Three consecutive paragraphs from today’s reading begin with the word because.

Maybe it’s due to Canadian modesty, but we do not have much of a hero culture in Canada. That does not mean there are no true heroes. We simply are not as quick to recognize and celebrate them as our neighbours to the south.

But we need heroes – heroes of the faith to show us the way.

Jesus is the point of our lives. He is the leader of our faith and the one who remains faithful in our lives until the end. He is to be our focus. And from him, spiritual health and life will flow into our souls and out of our lives. But today so many other things distract or hold us.

Sometimes life is really painful because of the correction we are experiencing from God. Why would a loving God willingly correct us? This question is an honest cry of our hearts and in many ways cannot be answered sufficiently in this bit of scripture alone. And yet, there is an incredible verse tucked into it …

Why do we need to keep asking God to deliver us from the anxiety that can fill our minds?  Why doesn’t he just remove this anxiety the first time we pray for it?

We are becoming increasingly familiar with words like mental health, depression, and anxiety.

Ever feel like your voice is not heard? Do you feel that other voices crowd yours out, interrupting and speaking over yours? It’s not a nice feeling.

That is the experience of the voice of wisdom; God’s voice personified for us here.