Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

HEBREWS 11 has been called "the hall of faith"—and for good reason. Beginning with one of the first people on earth, the author traces the essential quality of faith through Hebrew history, highlighting ten great men and women.

DIRECT INTERCHANGES between God and individuals don't occur often in Scripture. But in Abraham's life, his interchange with God takes the form of a true dialogue, a back-and-forth conversation between friends.

DON'T CRY for Abraham. Don't mourn his death. Don't grieve his departure. Rejoice! Celebrate him. Look at what he made of his life and his final years on earth.

BEFORE ABRAHAM DIED, he took good care of all his children, establishing each of his sons financially as they left the nest and started families of their own.

EVER THOUGHT about how you hope to die? I’m not necessarily talking about your literal death; I’m really asking about how you intend to live until you die.

IN RESPONSE to Eliezer’s prayer, the Lord directed Abraham’s servant to a woman from Abraham’s family clan—a woman of uncommon character who worshiped the one true Creator. And in addition to all that, she was pretty!

WHEN ABRAHAM was growing old, he knew it was time to find a suitable wife for Isaac. To accomplish the all-important task, Abraham called on his most trusted employee, Eliezer.

FOR THE FIRST part of their life together, Abraham and Sarah worshiped many gods. Then they received a visit from the one true Creator God, who said, in effect, “I have chosen you to become My models of faith.

AS ABRAHAM and Isaac headed up the mountain, before Abraham knew how God would intervene, he assured his son that God would provide the sacrifice.

SOME YEARS after receiving Isaac, as promised by God, the time had come for Abraham’s faith to be put to the supreme test. God is, of course, omniscient.

WHEN HAGAR was forced to leave Abraham’s camp, she wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba, a region roughly thirty miles southwest of Hebron.

GENESIS 21 gives the account of a man whose previous sin now haunts him and harms the people he loves. The birth of Abraham’s long-awaited heir, Isaac, gave him and Sarah great joy, but their delight became tinged with regret.

LONG AFTER Abraham and Sarah had given up hope of experiencing this joy, they held their very own son in their arms. It would have been easy for them to lose hope.

AT LONG LAST, at the appointed time, Abraham and Sarah received the fulfillment of God’s promise. Ninety-year-old Sarah gave birth to a son and, in obedience to God, named him Isaac, which means “he laughs.”

GOD ISN’T in a hurry, so He didn’t have a problem waiting a quarter century before fulfilling His promise and allowing Abraham and Sarah to conceive. Who knows why He waited that long?

THE BIRTH of a newborn is a momentary event, taking place in a matter of hours, but at that moment, life has only just begun. Growth and maturity occur steadily and gradually as a child develops from infancy to young adulthood.

WHEN GOD paid His visit to Sodom and Gomorrah, these twin cities controlled a lush, fertile valley through which ran the Jordan River.

LIKE MANY PEOPLE, I approached prayer simplistically when I first learned how to pray. Ask God for what you want. If you ask Him correctly or impress Him sufficiently, He just might grant your request. Or not.

NEARLY TWENTY-FIVE years had passed since the Lord first spoke to Abram in Ur. Since then, his spiritual roots had pushed deep into the soil of faith in his God. At long last, he trusted in the Lord’s promise and rested in His sovereign will.

THIRTEEN YEARS passed, and Abram didn’t hear anything from God. There was no vision. There was no voice. There was no visit. Only silence. Try to imagine: complete silence on God’s part for thirteen years.