DAY FOUR || He is faithful.
"Let us hold tightly without wavering, to the hope we affirm (profess), for God can be trusted to keep His promise." Hebrews 10:23
This verse in Hebrews was written to believers as a cautionary warning. It was written to encourage them to not become careless or shallow in their faith. To hold firm to the Gospel, “the hope we profess” - that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. “The hope is that any who believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn 3:16). To “hold tightly” to this hope and live accordingly to it. In the face of pressure or difficult circumstances, and when this letter was written, these believers were under great pressure to throw away their faith. This passage of scripture was to remind them to not go back to their old ways of thinking and begin to doubt that Jesus was who He said He was.
Because Jesus is God’s promise of a saviour fulfilled. Jesus, himself, is a sign of God’s faithfulness.
What would cause those believers to waver in the faith? They knew of Jesus’ miracles. Maybe some of them had even been witnesses to Jesus’ ministry. So why warn them to not become like the Isaraelites in the wilderness? Why does this apply to you and me today? Because just like these believers, we too are faced with life’s pressures and pain. And if we aren’t “holding tightly” or “staying close” to Jesus in those really difficult moments of life, it’s easy for us to let go of our hope. We can end up doubting if Jesus is really who He says is and if He will do what He says He will do. No matter how many times we’ve seen God be faithful in our lives, just like the Israelites, our doubt and pain can lead us to “wander off” from what we believe and put our trust in wrong things. We too can easily get entangled in sin (Heb 12:1-3), and end up living in a desert for years, instead of the promised land God has for us.
Like the believers in Hebrews, I too have been a witness to Jesus’s power. I’ve experienced actual healing in my mind and body. I have experienced miraculous provision and protection in my life.
Neither God, nor His word, have ever failed me. Not once. And even when I thought He had failed me, His faithfulness and goodness were there. I just didn’t see it at the time. But hindsight is a powerful thing. It creates clarity where there has been distortion. And disappointment and distrust are pretty good at distorting the truth when we are in the middle of really hard seasons.
Like the Isarealites, I too have “wandered off." I’ve lived in the desert of disappointment and doubted God’s goodness and faithfulness in my life. When difficult things have happened in my life and I have felt let down by God, I have been guilty of wandering off into the sin of doubt, bitterness, grumbling and complaining. I’ve held onto unforgiveness and suffered its damage. Disappointment and doubt almost destroyed me and the call on my life. But, oh for the grace of God! He showed up in my desert and He provided me with bread and living water that saved my life. God and I have done a lot of work over the years to silence and defeat the lies of the enemy that I believed during those years. The lies that led me into the desert. There has been much healing and much holding on to Jesus and His word. I’m not perfect, but I am more confident in God’s faithfulness than ever before.
We have to avoid lowering God’s character to our circumstances. Instead, raise our circumstances to the truth of God’s word. When I lose my job and there isn’t enough money to cover my bills, I don’t want to define God's faithfulness by the condition of my bank account. I want to define God’s faithfulness by the truth that...my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:19). When facing a negative health diagnosis, I don’t want to define God’s faithfulness by my doctors report. I want to define God’s faithfulness by the truth that “...I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD" Jer 30:17. When I face heartache or lose someone I love, I don’t want to define God’s character and faithfulness by my pain, but by the truth that “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3) When I am in a long waiting season and haven’t seen a breakthrough or a desire fulfilled, I don't want to define God’s faithfulness by my frustration and disappointment. I want to define God’s faithfulness by the truth that “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom 8:28) and “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11). God is faithful. His word is true. And He defines my circumstances, not the other way around.
Maybe you can't recall a time of God’s faithfulness in your life. I’ve walked long enough with the Lord to know that’s impossible. Are you breathing right now? That is His faithfulness to sustain your life. In the moments when our disappointment and pain are blinding us and distorting the truth, we can look to Jesus as proof of His faithfulness. Jesus’s birth, death and resurrection are proof that God keeps His promises. God promised He would send a savior and He did.
When we build our lives on the word of God, it will keep us safe. It will build a hedge of protection around our hearts and minds to keep trusting God when we face hard things. It will build a deep well of trust in our hearts to draw from when life doesn’t go the way we thought it would. It will build patience in our hearts when we endure long seasons of waiting. It will build strength to “hold tightly” to the hope we profess and not loosen our grip when life’s pressures tempt us to let go. When we hold on to Jesus and anchor ourselves in Him and His truth, we avoid wandering in a desert for forty years like the Isaraelites. Instead, we end up living in the promised land. We remain unwavering in our trust in God no matter what. Because we know God is faithful to keep his promises and Jesus is the proof.
GOD PROMISES TO REMEMEMBER
Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
Psalm 33:4
For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.
Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.
Hebrews 12:1-3
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, 2 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. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Deuteronomy 32:4
The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.