Hebrews 10:35-39
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
38 Now the[k]just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”[l]
39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
As I was praying this weekend over all the things that`s been happening to me, I received a few scriptures as a reminder of God`s faithfulness and His goodness. It is not my job to question His timing or to doubt His actions because He is faithful, and He promised that everything works together for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28), so I stand on this promise every day. It seems like my circumstances go from bad to worse with every week, and I know why: satan doesn`t rest until he would get what he wants- steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10); however, I also know that whatever that seems like his victory, in reality it is only a fake victory just like when he thought he destroyed God`s plan regarding Jesus` death. The result was—Jesus rose from the dead, and His death served to save all those who believe in Him, and through His death and resurrection we become children of God.
When I look at my circumstances, they are a complete failure, and I used to get depressed until I engrained the word of God into my memory to the point that whenever I get doubts, I pull the appropriate scripture and get through with the victory. The key for me was to stop thinking about what I want. The main reason why I couldn`t trust God was because His plan went against of what I wanted Him to do, and as soon as I realized it, I gave in. I received not only a tremendous peace in my heart, but I received a confidence that He is Almighty God who is capable to deliver me out of the worst circumstances that I`m in.
One of my favorite epistles in the New Testament is written by Peter, and he said in his letter:
13 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”[c]
15 But sanctify the Lord God[d] in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; (1 Peter 3:13-15 NKJV)
This is the key: “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts” because out of the heart the rivers of living water would flow as Jesus said it Himself (John 7:38). It should be our goal to guard our hearts, so that God could use one to do what is good and right. There is no reason for me to be alarmed or afraid of my circumstances regardless of how treacherous they are because God promised that “who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?” This scripture was like a soothing medicine to my heartache because I know since I follow the Lord, and I live for Him, no harm would go unanswered or without victory.
There is a certain need for endurance in the life of any true believer because endurance produces spiritual healthy growth in one`s relationship with God, it creates opportunities for God to move in a powerful way to show His glory, and it gives Him a chance to bless us to no end.
In the verse Hebrews 10:35 it is said:
“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great rewards”
God has a plan to bless me, and you as long as I don`t lose my confidence in Him and my faith in Him—“draws back” because those things bring no pleasure to God, I know that He continues His work in my heart. Whatever the circumstances are, I choose not to draw back or to grow weary because it brings no pleasure to Him, and I want to live to please Him.
I like what Oswald Chambers said:
“It is difficult to get into stride with God, because as soon as we start walking with Him we find that His pace has surpassed us before we have even taken three steps. He has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined in His ways… Getting into God`s stride means nothing less than oneness with Him. It takes a long time to get there, but keep at it. Don`t give up because the pain is intense right now—get on with it, and before long you will find that you have a new vision and a new purpose.”
God has a plan to bless me and you as long as we keep pace with Him and search for Him. God promised that through this “need of endurance” we save our soul to inherit His Kingdom. The reason why it is so trivial to endure trials and hardships is because it teaches us to completely forsake our own wants and needs, and drives us to rely completely on Him, which is exactly what He desires of us.
I never truly understood the book of Job until I faced the worst circumstances in my life, and as I was reading his response to endurance and trials, I realized that it could only be through his complete surrender to God. Job lost his children, his wealth, and got the worst case of leprosy all in one day, and his wife urged him to curse God and die. That`s the type of advice you want to steer away if you ever hear something like that in your life. I love what Job said though in response to that foolishness:
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2:10 NKJV)
The best part of this book of Job is that in the end God restored all the wealth, healed him, gave him children, and his prosperity was greater than what was initially before his trials began. His enduring of the worst circumstances lasted for a year, and in the end God blessed him to no end.
I go through the worst enduring (at least in my mind this is the worst I`ve seen in my life), but I know that God is faithful, and He is doing a mighty work behind the curtains which I cannot see or understand right now, but in the end all the pieces of the puzzle they would come together, and it would be a mighty testimony of God`s love.
Whatever your circumstances are, do not grown weary or loose heart because it displeases God, and He only has in His mind to bless you. Stay on the track, and look for the scriptures that would sustain you during the worst hours, days, weeks just like I do.
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