Becoming a Hero With Lisa BevereSample

Becoming a Hero

Since the 1930’s Superman has been seen as the worldwide icon of courage, moral clarity and one willing to sacrifice for humanity. But did you know that from his inception, Superman’s character was grounded in Biblical imagery? One such telling example - Superman’s name on his home planet of Krypton is Kal-El which, translated in Hebrew, means “Voice of God.”

Like Moses (the model for the creators of the original Superman), everyone knows that Superman is a hero. But let me share something deeply personal with you, something you may not even know about yourself. If you are a Follower, you are in the process of hero training. And it is my sincere hope this 4-day devotional will help you discover how God, through the powerful combination of Scripture and obedience, has the power to transform you into just that.

We can be in our day what the heroes of faith were in their day—
but remember at the time they didn’t know they were heroes.

—A. W. Tozer

If we could be transported back to Biblical times and meet those we now call “Heroes of the Faith” I imagine we’d discover that most didn’t feel particularly heroic in their day-to-day life. Abraham & Sarah, Moses, David, Sampson and Peter all had low moments on their life journeys. So as Tozer rightly remarks, it stands to reason that if our ancient heroes of faith had no sense of being heroes in their day, could it be that we are likewise clueless in our day? So caught up in the mundane that we are blinded to the extraordinary? If so, we are in good company because, like them, we are heroes unaware.

God Makes Heroes Out of Nobodies

There is so much genius in Superman’s disguise. As the mild-mannered journalist, Clark Kent, he’s positioned to divert the focus from himself and onto others. He blends in. A regular guy. An everyman. A nobody. With only a white dress shirt and some glasses to conceal his true identity, no one suspects the extraordinary power he possesses, lurking just under the surface.

Our challenge is different from Superman’s. Dressed as Clark Kent, he knew the secret of who he was and what he had. We, on the other hand, walk around dressed as nobodies - void of the realization that God’s power works in and through us, transforming us daily.

To understand how we start on our hero journey, we need to look no further than where our story began—with the very first hero of faith. Abraham began his sojourn into history when he stopped trying to sort things out on his own. That was when Abraham entered into what God was doing, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.

Like Abraham, when we turn our lives over to Him, we discover God is already writing us into His plans. We might not see it yet, but when we allow God to take the reins, His epic tale of triumph unfolds. Yes, there will be seasons of struggle, miracles, battles, signs, and wonders! The question before us is, are we ready to let go?

If so, then it is time to step into what God has already done for us. This allows his Spirit to begin his renewing work within us.

The Bible describes heroes like Abraham as those “willing to live in the risky faith-embrace of God’s action for them” (Romans 4:12, msg). In the same way we know that, in Christ, God eradicated our past. We have no problems - believe that! But in Christ, he is already acting on our behalf in the future. “We call Abraham “father” not because he got God’s attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody.” (Romans 4:17 MSG) Our ancestors distinguished themselves from the masses by their acts of faith. And by those faith-motivated actions, they attained the status of heroic men and women in the history of God.

When we throw ourselves into the mix of what God did through faith for Abraham, and likewise we give God permission to make a somebody out of a nobody.