Remember Where You’ve Been

Read: Hebrews 10:26-39

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings. (v. 32)

One of my favorite things about parenting is curling up with my children to read. When my son was five, he would painstakingly work his way through his favorite books, sounding out each word. When he had made it all the way to the end, he would slam the book closed and immediately declare that he couldn’t read. I would say, “But you just did!” And he would reply, “No, I don’t know how to read.” It took several months, but one day he slammed the book and declared, “I can read!” Once he realized what he had done, there was no stopping him and he read everything he could get his hands on.

Sometimes in life there are tasks ahead of us that seem impossible. Maybe it’s a project at work that you don’t think you can succeed at. Or maybe there’s a temptation that you face that you’re sure you’ll never beat. Maybe there’s an obstacle to your faith that you just can’t surmount. The author of Hebrews encourages us to remember the hard things we’ve already faced and be encouraged to press on. It’s not always easy to follow Jesus, but we’ve faced hard things before. And, most importantly, God never leaves us alone in our hard things. When we are faced with difficult times, we can remember where we have been and how God has been faithful to us in the past.

As you pray, ask the Lord to remind you of how he has been faithful during the hard times.