To Encourage You

Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

Wherever we find a word of encouragement in God’s Word regarding some issue of life, it’s because we need that encouragement. Another way to think about this is that if the things that our supernatural Creator commanded us were easy for us, there would be little need for that instruction. The Bible is filled with supernatural alternatives to natural human actions and reactions. However, our God “knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). Therefore, it is essential for us to pray for Him to help us to obey His will. It’s exactly in that context that Jesus has instructed us to ask, seek, and knock as part of His closing comments of the Sermon on the Mount, for to live in the way He has laid out in this sermon is impossible without His supernatural strength to help us.

So, in the verse above we find encouragement regarding a common problem that faces believers, i.e., that of a wavering faith. It’s one thing to say we believe; it’s another thing to actually believe when we face overwhelming circumstances.

What causes us to waver? Fear is one cause. It’s a natural thing. Who isn’t gripped with fear when the doctor says “it’s cancer,” or we get a phone call that “there’s been an accident”?  So much of life is out of our control, and fear can raise its ugly head at such times. Also, doubt is a common problem that can cause us to waver in our faith. No one has ever seen God, yet we are staking our entire lives on believing that “He exists and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Who hasn’t wavered at one time or another wondering if what we believe is really true? And then there is failure, particularly with respect to some besetting sin. It is natural to feel defeated and wonder if we are Christians at all at times when we fall to temptation, sometimes the same temptation that we vowed we’d never again fall to. Then there is Satan, the accuser of the brethren, who is all too willing to aid and abet fear, doubt, and sin.

So, what’s our instruction in the face of wavering faith? It’s to look to the One in Whom we’ve placed our trust, for unlike us, He is perfectly faithful. He’s given us examples throughout His Word, not of perfect people, but of people just like us who wavered in their faith, yet endured. We have words from King David, “a man after God’s own heart,” yet one who said “When I am afraid (and yes, he sometimes was afraid), I put my trust in You” (Psalm 56:3).  We have the example of Peter, who wavered in his faith, and denied His Lord three times. Yet, the Lord, was true to His Word in that before Peter failed Jesus promised him that “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32). Then after Peter blew it, the Lord restored him and enabled him to endure to the end of his life. And then of course there was doubting Thomas. Did the Lord reject Him because of that doubt? No, He did not.

Yes, the Lord is faithful to His children, to all those who have truly put their faith in Him, even when that faith is as small as a mustard seed. Listen to the Faithful One who has promised us that “whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). And then there is this from 1 Corinthians 10:13, a verse I’ve hung onto with my fingernails at times: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

But what if we do fall to that temptation (or testing – it’s the same Greek word), though we should have known better and though we should have endured. Our faithful God has also said this: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And so the encouragement, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He Who promised is faithful.”

May we keep our eyes on the One Who is faithful to us, and may He strengthen our resolve to be more and more faithful to Him. Our God always leads. He’s always first. He always shows us the way. We can love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). We can forgive because He has forgiven us (Colossians 3:13). We can comfort others with the comfort we have received from Him (2 Corinthians 1:4). We can give because of all He has so graciously given us (Deuteronomy 16:17), and we can be faithful, for He has always been and will always be faithful to us.

Praise His name!