Give Him Time

"Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward."

Hebrews 10:35

At the time these words were written to the Hebrew Christians, they were likely under great persecution from the leaders of Judaism and the Roman government. Can you imagine the temptation it must have been for them to slip back into their "old religion" of following laws and rituals? Especially since they had been looking for the return of Christ and He had not yet appeared. They needed encouragement to carry on, and the writer of Hebrews offers it to them in presenting the superiority and sufficiency of Christ and His new covenant, over the old. A reminder is given of how they started out strong in their new faith and they needed to continue to hold it fast. In so doing, they would receive a great reward. When trials come our way, we may become impatient with God, and tempted to fall away into old patterns of life that exclude Him. It is then that we must choose to remain confident. Amy Carmichael said, "We say, then, to anyone who is under trial, give Him time to steep the soul in His eternal truth. Go into the open air, look up into the depths of the sky, or out upon the wideness of the sea, or on the strength of the hills that is His also; or, if bound in the body, go forth in the spirit; spirit is not bound. Give Him time and, as surely as dawn follows night, there will break upon the heart a sense of certainty that cannot be shaken."