Greeted Them From Afar…

“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar.”
(Hebrews 11:13a)
“Helloooooooooooooooooooooo promisesssssssss!
I wouldn’t be able to see you if not for these eyes of faith.
Feel free to come closer—I’ve been waiting a long time for you to arrive.”
But no, they never arrived.
The protagonists of the verse, affectionately referred to as “These all,” died believing. It says they “died in faith.”
Maybe theirs was a weak faith—that’s why the things promised never arrived?
No, me thinkest not! They wouldn’t have made it into Hebrews chapter 11 if they had wobbly faith.
They believed.
They saw from afar.
They shouted a loud hello.
They got nothing.
And yet they are being celebrated here, in the hall of faith.
To believe is better than to receive.
Maybe that is what the Spirit of God is whispering to us here.
But let’s not stop there—there’s more.
Though we haven’t yet received all that has been promised, we will. That’s the beautiful hope of faith. What they saw only from a distance, we know will one day be ours in Christ. Faith isn’t the absence of fulfillment but the assurance that fulfillment is coming.
And so, we wait, believing, greeting the promises from afar. And one day, they will come closer—closer than we could ever imagine.