"We live with dying and we die with living. "
"By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning on top of his staff." - Hebrews 11:21 (NKJV)
He worshiped, leaning ...
Faith, in itself, is a kind of leaning. Blessing others, we lean into them. Proclaiming the blessing as if already accomplished, is a leaning into the future with faith. Worshiping is leaning into God.
"Leaning on the everlasting arms," we need a bit of support.
Jacob had a staff.
It worked, but still, he was dying.
But aren't we? We live with dying and we die with living.
Jacob chose faith in his dying days, he envisioned a future, and he fell upon his staff and found God supporting him. Thus he worshiped.
I am not exactly sure how this day will unfold, but I am leaning toward a faith that shall not falter with faith that cannot fail because it leans forward on a Father who receives my faith as an expression of worship.
The secret of endurance as discovered by Moses:
"... he endured as seeing Him who is invisible." (Hebrews 11:27b, NKJV)
Seeing the invisible God.
It really goes to the heart of faith for people of faith. We deal in that realm that an outsider might legitimately view as subjective ... and yet we see.
All people of vision, whether people of faith or not, see things that others do not see.
Some see the future.
Some see possibilities.
Some see realities too small or far away for the naked eye to surround.
If it can be captured and perceived through the optical nerves, it may not be faith and it may not be enough to produce endurance. If it requires a leap into the uncharted unknown, one has lengthened the distance of vision and shortened the gap between what is and what can be through the Eyes of the One Who Is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGbxrNqK4-4
or - the wonderful Hillary Klug!!!