“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)
I keep this verse on the wallpaper of my laptop. It has meaning for me as a deeply wounded and long suffering individual who has waited for over 30 years for God to answer my prayers for just one faithful and loyal friend. That suffering has deepened over the years as I have waited for almost 24 years on Him to fulfill personal promises to me for a wife and a family of my own. I look around me and see others who have been handed those blessings without having to wait who are taking those things for granted and even abusing the very blessings that God has given them.
Maybe I have a different perspective than most these days, but God made me to see that relationships are what’s important in this life and not things or status or wealth. He created us for the ultimate relationship with Him and out of Adam’s side He created Eve, the ultimate in earthly relationships, because God saw that it wasn’t good for man to be alone. Yet, after a childhood of verbal and emotional abuse and bullying, friends moving away, a mentor’s untimely passing, being dragged into my parent’s almost 3 year divorce, moving my mom in with me because she had nowhere to go, my granddad’s death, fighting with a house infested with mold, and now 10 years of having no family we find ourselves more alone than ever before.
Why do I paint that somber picture of my life for you in a devotion? Psalms 30:5 says “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” and this verse from Hebrews says it all. I like the wording of the Amplified version. “So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.” (Heb 10:23)
I am reminded yet again that God created and is in charge of ALL that there is. If He created the earth and all creation with a mere word then why do we feel that He can’t and won’t watch over us? I know, I know, I fall in this same trap too sometimes. Let’s look at it this way “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:1-3)
I don’t know about you but, that puts a better light on my problems and my suffering. Maybe we should look at this verse one more time as well in the Amplified version. “Now faith is the assurance (title, deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. For by this [kind of] faith the men of old gained [divine] approval. By faith [that is, with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and goodness of God] we understand that the worlds (universe, ages) were framed and created [formed, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose] by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” (Heb 11:1-3)
Brothers and Sisters, we love and serve a God who created us because He loves us. As the verse says, we may weep for the night but joy comes with the morning. In our times of trouble we must ask God what He wants from us, what we need to learn from our circumstances, and most of all we must lean into Him. Let us not forget Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
I don’t care where this verse finds you, we can have peace and joy in knowing that God will work all of our pain for His good. If we really think long and hard on the worst thing that can happen to us in this life we certainly come around to talking about death. Even in that, we can be joyful that in death, those of us who have been born again (John 3:3) will immediately be transferred into the presence of God. Don’t give up, don’t call it quits, as (1 Timothy 6:12) says; “fight the good fight of the faith”
As I finish this up I want to leave us all with some encouragement from Isaiah. In Chapter 30, Verse 18 we read “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”
We may not like the length of our wait and we may lose hope as things seem to be more and more impossible but, God is the God of the impossible, nothing is impossible for Him and He looks to the impossibilities of our world to show us His sovereignty and glory.
Sovereign Most High God, we come before You and thank You for the reminder that You created us to have a relationship with You. We have failed to keep our hope, we have failed to keep our faith, and we have sinned against You and against Heaven. Thank You Father for sending Jesus to us, to live sinlessly, to suffer in every human way with the enormity of the burden of sin of every human that there ever was and ever will be. We thank You for His sacrifice of Himself for us and for His resurrection, breaking the bondage of death for us so that we might live in Your Holy presence. God, each and every one of us struggle, suffer, have hopes and dreams that seem lost, and lose our own hope along the way sometimes. We are waiting on You, a God of justice and mercy and we look to You to be gracious to us and to bless us. As the boy’s father cried out in Mark 9:24 “I believe; help my unbelief”. Lord, we ask You to take our mourning and turn it into dancing, we ask You to deliver us from our weeping and into the Joy that only comes from You. Give us each a testimony to Your mercy, grace, and blessing. Deliver us from the hardships that we are experiencing and fulfill for us the hopes and dreams that You have planted deep within us. We have faith in You God and we will wait for you until You answer. We ask these things humbly and in the name of Christ Jesus our Savior. AMEN!!!
“May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace.” – AMEN!!!
This Narrow Path... 