Through Faith...

Ordinary individuals + active faith = extraordinary lives. Facing life's challenges through faith lead to a great testimony. In Hebrews 11 (Faith's Hall of Fame), after telling the stories of well-known individuals who lived by faith, the chapter concludes, for the sake of time, with a list of lesser known and some unnamed individuals who also lived by faith. Check out verses 32-38 - ³²And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. ³⁵Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. ³⁶Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. ³⁷They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Through faith you can not only accomplish great things but you can endure great things. Do you see the shift in the middle of verse 32 beginning with the word 'OTHERS'? These through faith were able to put up with difficult and sometimes seemingly impossible situations. Think about this - more on the subject later.