“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 10:35-36).
When faced with a trial or affliction, it often helps to understand the reason behind that hardship. Since many adversities appear to be devoid of meaning or purpose, we are often challenged to make sense of painful events that seem to make little sense. Although it is impossible to identify the cause of suffering in every instance, we can say that valid reasons for suffering always exist, even if we don’t fully comprehend them.
The author of Hebrews provided one such reason in the passage quoted above: “You need endurance so that after you have done what God wants you to do, you can receive what he has promised” (GW). Some members of the first-century audience for this letter had been tempted to withdraw from their relationship with Christ and return to the Old Testament sacrificial system in response to persecution. Therefore, their steadfast response in the face of such mistreatment would serve to build their spiritual endurance and demonstrate the reality of their faith.
Paul the Apostle offered another potential explanation behind the challenges and difficulties we experience in a letter to the first-century church at Corinth…
“…But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many” (2 Corinthians 1:9b-11 NIV).
In light of this, we can say that these challenges offer an opportunity to demonstrate the kind of faith that pleases God. That faith is not in ourselves or our ability to control (or escape) the circumstances we encounter. Instead, our confidence is in the God who is able to make “…all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
As Jesus reminded us in Matthew 6:33-34, “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (NIV).