“But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. 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:” Hebrews 10:32-36 NKJ
I am sure you would agree that the most difficult time to find the strength to endure is after suffering from a long season of drought or trial in your life, but that is exactly what the writer of Hebrews is calling us to do in this passage. He urges us to recall the former days, the days when we were filled with zeal for Christ and nothing could stand up against our faith, or destroy our hope! The days our hearts were drawn near to God and our minds were fixed on His promises! The days we counted it pure joy to suffer trials for the sake of the Gospel! Those former days where our earthly mindset was fixed on the heavenly reward and we didn’t let seasons of drought or times of trial distract us on our journey of faith!
It is in recalling what Christ did for us on the day of our salvation and embracing His resurrection life that lives on the inside of us where the strength to endure and our confidence to stand, comes from! It is not a self imposed strength of will, for no long term strength comes from our own efforts! It is not in adhering to a religious list of dead works for that only leads to complete exhaustion! No, it only comes from the center of our being, Christ in us, the hope of glory; where we are strengthened and where true confidence comes from!
But as we see in this passage we have a responsibility to remind ourselves of the former days and we have the command to not cast away our confidence! I can attest to the fact that these are two of the hardest things to do when you are in a drought season or a time of trial, but when we make the conscious decision to do these things; we are once again filled with faith and hope! When I do this my mind is filled with images of the times God has been faithful to me and it empowers me to believe that He will be faithful this time as well. My heart is filled with hope and I envision the day when I will see Jesus face to face and receive my true reward for standing strong in the faith!
When the devil or my own mind try to convince me that times are only going to get worse or that I will lose all strength and eventually succumb to the pressure to give up; I fight against those thoughts by renewing my mind in the Word. I give my mind and heart the command to submit to the will of God and to say, let God be true and every man a liar! (Romans 3:4) I rebuke the thoughts of hopelessness and remind myself of the hope I have in Christ and of His resurrection power that is operating on the inside of me! (Galatians 2:20)
When fear rises up, when my flesh is weak, I allow the love of God to envelop me and remind myself that in Christ I have a great reward both in heaven and here on the earth, for as He is so am I in this world. (1 John 4:17-18) I fix my mind on things above and not on the earthly season of drought or time of trial. (Colossians 3:2-4) Sometimes I can encourage myself in the Lord the way David did and experience renewal and other times I have to enlist the help of close friends to hold up my weakened arms like Aaron and Hur did for Moses. (Exodus 17:12) We have just been through one of these times and if it hadn’t been for the body of Christ supporting me through it, I may have succumbed to the pressure to give in and give up. But as I called out for help and the body of Christ responded I was strengthened and renewed in my inner man.
We all have times in life where we will have to execute the instructions given to us in Hebrews 10:32 -36 but God is faithful and He will not abandon us as we do it. He will bring to remembrance the former days and remind us of His faithfulness. He will give us the endurance and strength we need to overcome. And He will renew our confidence and remind us of our great reward that awaits us in glory. He is the faithful Father who gives good gifts to His children! Nothing can compare to His love for us! His desire is to see us walk in the fullness of the life of Christ that lives, and moves, and has His being in us and to see us believe Him for the things He has promised! His will is for His children to accept their inheritance in Him and to live the abundant life He has given us in Christ, not just when we get to heaven, but while we are still on this earth!
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