Endurance

“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” (Hebrews 10:35-36).

God is talking to people who had started out well in their Christian life but had begun to falter. He told them they needed endurance to keep going forward. We need endurance in order to inherit God’s promises. To inherit a promise from God means to see God’s word accomplished. This is a process that can take time.

We do not base the Christian life on our emotions or experience. This would be a very unstable foundation that could collapse at any time. Instead, we base our Christian lives on God and his word.

Running a sprint may not require endurance, but running a marathon does. The Christian life is a long-term race that we are running for the rest of our lives. It requires endurance.

In the Christian life, things often take longer than we would like. God’s word happens on his timetable, not ours. This means we must be patient.

Endurance is built by good habits as we do things because of agape love for God and others. As we keep obeying God and crucifying our flesh, we endure. When challenges come, we keep going. Feelings and experiences are secondary. There will be unforeseen delays, difficulties, and problems when we follow God. We should be prepared for these things and not faint and give up.

It’s possible to be very excited at the beginning of a race but become exhausted as the distance goes longer. We need to stay empowered by the Holy Spirit and be consistent in our faith in order to keep pursuing the goal. Jesus is going to fulfill his promises.

“He who shall come will come, and will not tarry (Hebrews 10:37).

The Lord will come to fulfill his word. We are not hoping in him in vain. God will answer.

“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12-15).

Let’s follow the example of the saints in the Bible who inherited promises from God. They were diligent, which means they worked hard spiritually. They were not sluggish, but they stayed strong in faith.

God promised to Abraham that he would have many descendants, like the sand on the seashore and the stars in the sky. He had no children, but he held onto this promise from God. When he was old and his wife had gone through menopause, then he miraculously had a son named Isaac. Finally, thousands of years later, Christ came – descended from Isaac, and now the word of God to Abraham was fulfilled. Everyone who believes in Jesus becomes a child of Abraham, and now Abraham has children all over the world.

Joseph was another person who inherited promises. Joseph prophesied that after he died God’s people would carry his bones out of Egypt and he would be buried in the Promised Land (Genesis 50:25). After hundreds of years, this word was fulfilled and Israel carried Joseph’s bones out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and into the Promised Land where he was buried (Joshua 24:32).

The biggest promise God ever gave was that Jesus Christ would come. After the Fall, at the beginning of the world, God gave this promise (Genesis 3:15). Throughout 40 centuries God’s people held onto this promise. Finally, this promise was fulfilled, and Jesus Christ was born in a manger in Bethlehem.

These examples encourage us to believe God. It may take a while, but God will always come through for his people. He will never fail.

“The just will live by faith” (Hebrews 10:38). 

The just have heard a word from God. They’ve seen a vision and obeyed him. But they need to live by faith because there are promises from God that have not yet been fulfilled in their lives.

We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). We fix our eyes on spiritual things that we can’t see, not on the world around us (2 Corinthians 4:18). We look to God and his word.

The author of Hebrews warns us not to draw back – to hesitate, falter, or give up (Hebrews 10:38). Satan wants us to give up and stop believing God’s word. When God’s people lose their faith, they lose their power, and then they can be destroyed.

If we’re not moving forward spiritually, we’re going backward. Let’s not stagnate. Let’s not give in to doubt. God will never fail. 

“If we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses” (Romans 8:25-26).

We are hoping for something we don’t see. This means we have faith. We are eagerly waiting for God’s word to come to pass. We can persevere. We are weak sometimes, but God is strong and he’s given us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will give us grace to endure.

It may take time, but God’s word will come to pass. He will never fail. Let’s hold on.