"Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise."
"Are we there yet?"
No.
We're not there yet.
Our Story—though already written—is still unfolding. We're getting close to the end of the line.
But we're not quite there yet.
But we're not quite there yet.
Perhaps, if you're like me, you have moments of getting weary in the long journey.
Dad is driving the station wagon. The family is packed in the car. You watch telephone pole after telephone pole pass you by. The sun set hours ago, and now, after a long night, it's coming up again on the horizon. Now it's night again, and as you lay in the back seat staring up at each passing street light, you see the faces of your sleeping siblings illuminated, as if you were watching them from an old movie projector.
Dad is driving the station wagon. The family is packed in the car. You watch telephone pole after telephone pole pass you by. The sun set hours ago, and now, after a long night, it's coming up again on the horizon. Now it's night again, and as you lay in the back seat staring up at each passing street light, you see the faces of your sleeping siblings illuminated, as if you were watching them from an old movie projector.
It seems like this trip will never end.
We have need of endurance.
Our destination is solidly marked on the map. It's not a question of if we will arrive there. It's just a matter of when.
I'm so ready to be there. It's been a long, and at times, very bumpy road. I've taken a lot of detours and forks in the road that I shouldn't have taken. Why don't I just let Dad drive?
I'm so ready to be there. It's been a long, and at times, very bumpy road. I've taken a lot of detours and forks in the road that I shouldn't have taken. Why don't I just let Dad drive?
Why are we so quick to abandon the road map? The road is narrow and difficult, but it's the only road that leads to my destination.
Not to worry. We'll get there. Dad is driving.
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Be patient."
The writer of Hebrews recorded this encouragement and exhortation (Hebrews 10:35-37):
"Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
“For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry."
Who is your confidence in today?
Let it be only in "He who is coming."
Our confidence should not be in the temporary things that are perishing; the government, the economy, our jobs, our 401-K plans, or our material things. These things are fleeting, and as many of us have seen, these things are here today, gone tomorrow. The Bible says for good reason: "Do not trust in uncertain riches."
Our confidence should not be in the temporary things that are perishing; the government, the economy, our jobs, our 401-K plans, or our material things. These things are fleeting, and as many of us have seen, these things are here today, gone tomorrow. The Bible says for good reason: "Do not trust in uncertain riches."
Our only confidence—our hope—is in God.
The promise of God's Word is that He will come and will not tarry.
We're going to be home soon. This current long journey will end, and a new, incredible journey will begin, and will majestically and wonderfully unfold, over the next thousands of millennia.
We simply cannot comprehend.
In the meantime, we have need of endurance. The source of our endurance is Christ.
The writer of Hebrews also states:
The writer of Hebrews also states:
"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but encouraging one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:19-25)
We're not in this alone.
We have been set in God's family. We are to stir up one another by loving others with the love that God loved us with, through His Son.
Family spends time together, enjoying a meal together, and encouraging one another, and all the more so, as we see that Day coming, in which this present, difficult journey will come to the end of the line.
Family spends time together, enjoying a meal together, and encouraging one another, and all the more so, as we see that Day coming, in which this present, difficult journey will come to the end of the line.
"Let us consider one another."
If you are listening, and your heart is open, God will put those people whom He has placed in your life on your heart, so that you will consider them, and then reach out and encourage them.
Are you listening?
Reach out to at least one person today that God has placed in your life, and encourage them. Don't wait. Pick up the phone, write them an email. But reach out.
Spend some quality time with someone. Everywhere around you, there are people who are struggling and hurting, who need God's love and encouragement today.
Spend some quality time with someone. Everywhere around you, there are people who are struggling and hurting, who need God's love and encouragement today.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
—God is Love, and Love Never Fails.
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