V 1.

And what is faith? Faith gives substance to our hopes, and makes us certain of realities we do not see.
NIV. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see
NLT. It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.
Nathan Nettleton paraphrase: Faith is the capacity to put all your eggs in the one basket, when even
the existence of the basket must be taken on trust and hope.

People seem to need to have faith in something.  We all need something or someone to trust in.  We put our faith/trust in train, tram and bus drivers, that they will take us to where we expect them to.  We may ask, 'Does this bus go to....?' and when the driver says 'Yes', we hop on, trusting that he's telling us the truth and that he knows the way to our destination.  We put our faith in restaurant chefs, that they haven't put poison in the food we order.  We eat those delicious-looking meals with no hesitation.

We place our trust in many people every day and yet we really don't know them well enough to be able to judge their trustworthiness! This is 'blind faith', indeed.- unless, of course, we've caught that same bus with the same driver many times and he's always delivered us safely to the right place.  Having faith in God is not 'blind faith' because he has, many times over, every day, proved his trust-worthiness.

Quest Study Bible note, p. 1671: Faith means abandoning all trust in our own resources, abilities and reasoning – the things we
see.  It means relying instead on things we cannot see – God’s promises, provisions, and His concern for us.  An inner attitude alone does not define faith, though.  For faith to be present, action is required.  Faith provides itself by its obedience to the Lord.

The writer of Hebrews expressed faith in two directions:  faith toward future things (what we hope for) and faith toward invisible things (what we do not see).  When we are certain God is in control of these areas (and we live like He is in control), that’s faith.

V 2.

It is for their faith that the men of old stand on record
NIV.  This is what the ancients were commended for.
TEV.  It was by their faith that the men of ancient times won God's approval.
The Message:  The act of faith is what  distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
Nathan Nettleton paraphrase: It was the ability to take decisive action based on faith alone that made our forebears such memorable heroes.

Do we want to be remembered in God's 'record book'?  There is nothing we can do to get our names written there. The only way is by faith in God. - by trusting him and showing that trust by the way we live our lives.  Trusting God means we won't rely on worldly goods or actions for our security and well-being. Having made the best use we know how of the resources God has provided for us, we can then relax and know he will not see us in need.

Quest Study Bible note, p 1671. The two sides of faith – assurance and expectation – can be seen in the lives of those listed in this chapter.  They had strong convictions about unseen present realities.  They also had a strong assurance that God’s promises would be fulfilled – even in the face of evidence that seemed to suggest otherwise (see, for example, v. 11).

Ultimately, the way we see God will determine the shape of our faith.  If we see a big, faithful, all-powerful God, then our faith will rise to those levels.  If, on the other hand, we see a smaller God, a distant or less active God, then faith will plateau at those levels.

V 3.

By faith we perceive that the universe was fashioned by the word of God, so that the visible came forth from the invisible.

When we think about all the things God has done through the milleniums to prove his trustworthiness and power, the first has to be the fact that every day we look around us at the wonderful world God created and keeps operating properly for us.  We haven't actually seen God at work with our eyes, but we can see the results of his work.  God at work is invisible to us, but the results certainly are  visible.  It is through faith that we believe it is God who created and maintains the universe, even though we haven't actually seen him doing it.  Nor can we see anywhere any 'raw materials' that he worked with as he created.

V 8.-10
By faith Abraham obeyed the call to go out to a land destined for himself and his heirs, and left home without knowing where he was to go. By faith he settled as an alien in the land promised him, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs to the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Abraham's story is told in Genesis 12.  I am always amazed at Abraham's faith.  He was an 75 year old man with many responsibilities, living in a place where God was not known.  I wonder what gave him the idea that God was asking him to leave all he had and go to some far-away, unknown place.  Most people I know, even those much younger than Abraham, would hesitate to take on such a journey with no guarantee of having anywhere to live at the end of it.  Even those of us who say we know God would think many times, not just twice, about making such a move.

New Bible Commentary p. 1347  Waiting for God to provide them them with an earthly inheritance, the patriarchs came to realise that this life is not an end in itself but a pilgrimage towards a future that God alone can construct for his people.

V 11.

By faith even Sarah herself received strength to conceive, though she was past the age, because she judged that he who had promised would keep faith;
NIV.  By faith Abraham, even though he was past age - and Sarah herself was barren - was enable to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.

Sarah was ninety years old (Genesis 17:17) when she became pregnant.  This was around 25 years after God had promised Abraham that he would have many heirs. Even at the time of the promise, she was past child-bearing age.  Yet both she and Abraham kept on believing that God would do as he had promised..  At one stage they had become impatient and tried to arrange things themselves, (Genesis 16), but that had been a disaster.

God will work miracles so to get his plans into action, but he seems to want us to participate with him in those plans, and he wants us to keep on believing and trusting him even when things seem impossible.

V 12.

and therefore from one man, and one as good as dead, there sprang descendants numerous as the stars or as the countless grains of sand on the sea-shore.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews finishes off the story, almost like "And they lived happily ever after"!  He makes his point: Abraham and Sarah trusted God, and God proved that he can be trusted.  He did as he said he'd do.

God asks us to trust him first, not wait for him to do something to prove his power before we trust.  That's where the 'faith' comes in - believing something that hasn't happened yet. Sometimes, like with Abraham, God makes us wait to see the outcome.  And there is no promise that we will ever see the outcome.  We are just asked to have faith that the outcome will happen - according to God's plans.

V 13-15

All these persons died in faith.  They were not yet in possession of the things promised, but had seen them far ahead and hailed them, and confessed themselves no more than strangers or passing travellers on earth. Those who use such language show plainly that they are looking for a country of their own. If their hearts had been in the country they had left, they could have found opportunity to return.

Thirty-three years ago, God gave me a vision of growth for the congregation I belong to.  It hasn't come to pass yet, although sometimes I wonder if we're seeing the beginnings of it now.  And I am not sure that I will be around to see it fully happen.  But I am confident it will happen. I would love to see my vision come true.  I have asked him many times to let me see it.  But I must accept that this is his work, not mine.  I can understand Abraham and Sarah's frustration!  But God asks us to trust him and go on trusting, no matter how long it takes.

New Bible Commentary, p 1347.  But Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all died without receiving the land of Canaan as an earthly inheritance. The things promised (NIV) were only seen and welcomed from a distance (NIV).  When they admitted to being aliens and strangers on earth, they made it clear that they were looking for a country of their own ............  Learning to trust God in their situation. the patriarchs looked to a reward that was beyond their earthly promise.

V 16.

Instead, we find them longing for a better country - I mean the heavenly one.  That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he has a city ready for them.

New Bible Commentary: God delighted in their faith and, through Jesus Christ, he has prepared a city for them.

If we are serious in wanting God to delight in us, we must learn to trust him, to be obedient and to be satisfied in knowing that we have been a part of his plan even if we don't see the results in this life.