Note from the Author: This article is a continuation of a series of articles called “Live By Faith”. The series is based on Hebrews 11, which is known as “The Faith Chapter”.

Enoch is a Biblical character that we know very little about. He appears as the seventh in line after Adam, and as the great grandfather of Noah, as in Noah and the Ark. He was also the father of Methusaleh, the longest-living human being in recorded history at 969 years. While we don’t know much, what we know is actually fairly impressive.

We also know that Enoch walked faithfully with God for 300 years after having Methusaleh. After that, we’re not exactly sure what happened to Enoch. The Bible doesn’t record his death, it simply states that “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more because God took him away.” Genesis 5:24

The New Testament letter of Jude provides a quote from Enoch in verses 14 and 15. The author does not identify the source of the quote. Some historians believe it came from ancient Jewish tradition while others believe it came from the book of 1 Enoch, a book falsely attributed to Enoch that was actually written a few hundred years before Jesus Christ.

Enoch’s name appears two more times in the Biblical record, once in Luke 3:37 in the ancestral line of Jesus Christ and then again in Hebrews 11 – and that’s why we’re talking about him. That’s all we know about Enoch.

The author of Hebrews attaches Enoch to one of the most definitive Biblical statements made when it comes to faith in God:

“And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

The writer of Hebrews identifies two faith imperatives when it comes to pleasing God:

First, we must believe that He exists. Frankly, that statement seems like a no-brainer. How could anyone possibly expect to please God if they don’t even believe He exists? Obviously, faith finds its most primal foundation in the belief that God exists.

Second, we must believe that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. To be rather blunt, I believe that many of us Christians struggle with this one. I know I do. Let me explain why:

Just last week I was having an all-too-familiar discussion with someone. He was telling me about a woman in his church who truly loved God. She taught Sunday School, gave faithfully of her tithes and offerings, served on the missionary board, and for all intents and purposes, lived a very upright, honorable and humble life. Yet she suffered and died way too young from cancer. He asked me the same question I’ve been asked hundreds of times, “How is that fair?”

I agreed with his sentiment. The fact is, it isn’t fair. Frankly, it stinks. What we want is fairness. We want good people to enjoy blessings and success and we want bad people to suffer and be punished – and we want it now. And since we’re not getting that fairness now, we find it hard to believe that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

You see, we Christians all too easily twist Biblical truth into something we want rather than realizing it is something we already have. As I’ve mentioned in a previous article, it’s a problem with our faith-math.

Most of us believe that if we do “A” (the right thing) God will give us “B” (what we want). It is a faith-math based on our idea of fairness. However, the math is incorrect, so it doesn’t add up. But because it is a math we like, we find ourselves being constantly disappointed in God. I could give you hundreds of examples, but I don’t need to. You have plenty of your own. Most Christians suffer deep disappointment in God because life just isn’t fair.

Actually, it’s a good thing life isn’t fair. If it were, we’d all be in deep trouble. According to Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. And according to Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death.” If life were fair, we’d all be doomed, utterly without hope.

Thankfully, God is more concerned with grace than He is with fairness. And when you have the correct faith-math, it all makes perfect sense.

The correct faith-math is this: God has already done “A” (provided redemption through Jesus Christ) and we have received “B” (forgiveness, peace and eternal life). In other words, through faith in Jesus Christ, we have already received the greatest reward possible!

Once we get the right faith-math into our heads, we realize that we have the awesome privilege of living out our determined and obedient faith in the midst of a terribly unfair world – because that’s what real and God-pleasing faith does.

What happened to Jesus was most unfair. Yet He was obedient to death, even death on a cross. This is why the author or Hebrews wrote this at the beginning of chapter 12, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Lately, I have been weary. Maybe you have been too. I haven’t lost heart, but I confess that I have come close. My faith-math has been messed up, and as a result, I have been suffering deep disappoint in God. I recognize the problem, but I just want life to be fair the way I want it to be fair – and I want God to get it right.

Typing that last sentence and including it in this article is a bit humiliating, but I’ve discovered that confession leads to healing – and my spirit needs to be healed from a self-inflicted wound caused by an incorrect form of faith-math. It’s time I get the math right. How about you?