How Do I Keep Going?
It's easy to say, "Keep going," but it's harder to do. It makes for a nice t-shirt, but making it a reality is tough.I want to finish that conversation and put some handles on that idea.Because if we’re going to stay in this, we need to know how not to quit.In chapter 3, the author of Hebrews calls us to be proud people of God, boasting in our hope in Him. And because of that hope, because we are a persevering people, because our faith doesn’t quit…
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
Hebrews 3:7-11 ESV
How can we persevere? How can we hold fast?The writer quotes Psalm 95. This Psalm refers to a 40-year period in Hebrew history. (Remember The Prince of Egypt?) As soon as God’s people left Egypt with Moses, they wanted to go back to slavery, back to what was comfortable because they didn’t trust God.Psalm 106 also recounts the whiplash of the Hebrews believing God and then forgetting again.Here are just a few verses to help us understand what was going on…“Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.Yet he saved them for his name's sake,
that he might make known his mighty power.
…
But they soon forgot his works;
they did not wait for his counsel.
But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
and put God to the test in the desert;
…
They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt…”
Psalm 106:7-8, 13-14, 20-21 ESV
The wilderness was a place of disobedience and resistance. It was marked by complaint after complaint and putting God to the test. They rebelled even to the very end of the 40 years when they spied out the promised land and came back with a false report. Imagine making it all the way there only to not be allowed in.But they put God to the test for too long. They saw what God could do for 40 years, but they still didn’t believe because of their circumstances. It didn’t matter what God did, they still didn’t believe outside of what they could see.We are warned not to harden our hearts like they did…Hardening happens when we can’t see.Hardening happens when we focus on what’s in front of us.Hardening happens when we choose our own path.Hardening happens when we’ve lost faith.
Ultimately, hardening happens when we forget.The Hebrews had 40 years' worth of signs and wonders. They were without excuse—they saw God do many things, but they were guilty of not having faith. An entire generation of Hebrews didn’t enter the promised land of Canaan. All because they forgot who God was and what He had done.“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.”
Hebrews 3:12 ESV
The writer is warning these Christians not to make the same mistakes. Remember, he is writing to believers—the warning to not fall away is also for us. Israel is an example for us.Sometimes I think we forget…We can be saved and still sin.We can be saved and still rebel.We can be saved and still not have faith.We can be saved and still have unbelief.
When we hear “unbelief,” we think it’s just about unbelievers, people who don’t follow Jesus. But it’s not just about the salvation moment and then it’s over.There is more to this Jesus-following life than salvation. There is an abundant life for us, a life exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ask or think on this side of heaven.We aren’t meant to just accept this gift of grace and stop there. We aren’t meant to get comfortable. The journey is continued trust in God, over and over and over.And if we are only here for a get-out-of-hell-free card, we are missing out.There’s more. And if, like the Israelites, we aren’t intentional, we can miss out.Believers can struggle with unbelief. And I’d argue that we actually do all the time. Maybe you don’t feel like you struggle with it in blatant, obvious ways. Maybe you’re not actively running from God like Jonah. Maybe you’re not ignoring his commands like David with Bathsheba. Maybe you’re not openly denying Him like Peter.But unbelief can look like:Questioning if God will provide for your family financiallyNot bringing a request to God because you think He doesn’t careTalking to your friends about your problem more than you talk to GodAvoiding God because you think He’s mad at youWorrying excessively about your circumstancesNot making a move until you have multiple “signs.”Calling works of God “coincidences”Taking matters into your own hands
Unbelief is choosing to not trust God.What led me to this passage were some questions I’ve had recently about faith. Not saving faith but working faith that we’re talking about. I’ve been asking God what it means to have faith—big, bold faith that moves mountains, that sees lives changed, bodies healed, and miracles in our lives. And what do I do when I hope and pray for those things, and they don’t happen?Because I’ve already lived enough life to see that:I’ve seen hundreds of people pray for a 4 month old baby to live, but he died.I’ve seen desperation for a marriage to be restored, but it ended in divorce.I’ve seen dream jobs turn into nightmares.I’ve seen abuse go unpunished.I’ve seen cancer return.I’ve seen heart attacks take people too soon.I’ve seen life-support removed.I’ve seen countless miscarriages.
I don’t know what you’ve seen, but I could probably guess. You’ve prayed and prayed, and believed God for something, tried to muster the faith—but it didn’t work out.It’s easier to choose not to believe. It’s easier to not have faith. It’s easier to operate in unbelief.You can’t get disappointed or hurt if you decide ahead of time He won’t do it.
But if we can learn anything from the Hebrews, it is that God takes unbelief seriously. The author of Hebrews goes so far as to call it “evil.” Unbelief is in opposition to God. It creates distance between us and God. It keeps us from living a life of faith.How can we fight the unbelief in our lives? How can we live a life of faith?The author of Hebrews doesn’t leave us without some direction:“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’”
Hebrews 3:13-15 ESV
Here’s our direction: verse 13 says, “But exhort one another” — that’s the solution! Encouragement!#1 We help each other fight unbelief.Those of us in Christ, God’s house, the persevering people — we are tasked with encouraging each other every. single. day.There is so much urgency in this passage: “today,” “every day,” “today.” This matters more than you think.Don’t want until tomorrow to say that thing, to text that friend, to sign up for that bible study, to join that group, to send that note, to encourage each other.If we don’t, verse 13 tells us, the hardening happens. (“that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”)Our unbelief and our sin lie to us. Then separation from God happens. We get lost. We don’t know what’s true or real. We isolate. We spiral. We harden.But encouragement softens. And it costs nothing to encourage someone. Nothing.Have you ever been caught up in a thought pattern or belief system that you couldn’t get out of? You couldn’t find the end of it? You weren’t sure where God was in it? But you brought it to a friend, maybe a mentor, maybe a pastor or leader—and they shed light on it? They could point to the truth that you couldn’t see. You could lean on their faith.Have you ever had a friend send that encouraging text at just the right time? Or the card that came in the mail out of nowhere? Or even just that comment on social media that meant so much to you? It doesn’t take much and it costs nothing.This is so important if we are going to remain firm to the end. If we are going to hold fast, we need each other. And we need each other today. Not when the crisis comes, not when our hearts are already hard, not tomorrow, but today.We help each other fight unbelief.“…Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts…”
Hebrews 3:7 ESV
How can you hear His voice today if you don’t recognize it? We don’t recognize the voices we don’t know.#2 Knowing God fights unbelief.Remember the Israelites in verse 10? They struggled with this…“Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’”
Hebrews 3:10 ESV
Their heart didn’t know God’s ways. They didn’t know what they should’ve known; it may have been in their heads, but it wasn’t in their hearts. They saw, they heard, and they chose otherwise. They had every opportunity. They didn’t take advantage of today. They didn’t take the time or effort to know.Do you desire to know God?Desiring to know God answers this question: Is God really worthy? You could also ask it like, is God worth it to us? Is He worth the effort to get to know Him?And the answer is “YES!” He is worth the time, the studying, the prayer, the worship, the community, and the sacrifice it takes to truly get to know Him. The more we know God, who He is, what His nature is like, etc., the more we believe. It’s a knowing issue.Because if we knew God, we would trust Him.“For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”
Hebrews 3:16-19 ESV
The Israelites not only heard His voice, but they saw so many works of God in the wilderness. But they still rebelled. They still had unbelief.#3 Remembering God’s faithfulness fights unbelief.We must make it a practice to remember what God has done. If you don’t know where to start, start with His Word. This book is a book of His faithfulness to His people. It’s filled with promises fulfilled and even more to come.But on top of that, what has He done in your life?Did He save you?Did He heal you?Did He provide for you?Did He comfort you?Did He rescue you?Did He come through for you?
How often do you sit and remember what God has done in your life? This is how we can stir our faith and fight unbelief.Remembering what God has already done helps us predict what He’s going to do.
I’ve seen God stay by my side in my darkest moments.I’ve seen God provide financially when I least expected it.I’ve seen God use broken people to minister to my city.I’ve seen God fight for me in rooms I wasn’t in.I’ve seen God redeem broken marriages.I’ve seen God bring miracle babies to earth.I’ve seen God heal cancer and disease.I’ve seen God protect the innocent.I’ve seen God do countless things.
So when you’re facing those things that you’re asking God for, the big faith prayers you’re praying, when we want to have faith that God can do these things—remembering God’s faithfulness fights unbelief.What have you seen Him do? Who do you know God to be? And who do you have around you to encourage you, no matter what the outcome?“Today, if you hear his voice…”
Hebrews 3:7 ESV
Anytime you have “today,” you have opportunity. Israel may have missed their opportunity, but we have today. We have to choose to place our full faith in Jesus.I’m still learning about working faith. What does it look like to have faith that can move mountains? What does it look like to believe God for something even though I can’t see it? What happens when it doesn’t seem like He’s answered the way I believed He would?But I think that I’ve had it wrong. It’s not just faith if He does it. It’s also faith to still believe Him if He doesn’t.I’ve seen what God can do. I’ve heard from people in my life what God can do. I know it’s not whether or not He can do the impossible, but I’ve made faith the key to unlocking whether or not God will do the impossible. But that’s not the definition of faith.“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 ESV
The whole point of faith is the unseen, the hope of seeing it in the future. Faith isn’t dependent on what God does for me. Faith isn’t something I can manipulate to get God to do what I ask.Faith is knowing God is who He says He is and will do what He said He will do. That even if in my lifetime He doesn’t answer my specific requests, the promises are still coming.That’s what I want. Faith either way. Faith to trust in the impossible. And the faith to still believe Him even if He doesn’t do it right now. My responsibility is to fight for that kind of faith by fighting unbelief.There is a simple prayer that I’ve prayed countless times:“Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.”
Mark 9:34 ESV
It’s from the story in Mark 9 of the father whose son is needing deliverance from a demon, but Jesus’ disciples couldn’t do it. Jesus calls them a “faithless generation.” Oof. The father looks to Jesus and says: “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus responds, “If you can! All things are possible for the one who believes.” The man immediately cries out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And Jesus heals his son.I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be known as a faithless generation. I do believe, I know I do, but in the moments when I struggle, that’s my prayer: “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.”I don’t know what you’re facing, I don’t know where you are struggling to fight for faith.Maybe you’ve trusted Jesus to save you, but you haven’t been letting Him lead you lately. You can turn it over to Him right now.Maybe you just need some encouragement, you need some people. Ask God to send someone into your life. Or better yet, go be that person for someone else. Reach out to that friend that you know needs encouragement.Maybe you don’t know God well enough to trust His character. You need to commit to getting to know Him, to knowing His nature, His person—so that you can begin to trust Him.Maybe you’re asking God for big things right now:HealingProvisionAn open doorRescueA relationshipClarityA miracle
And it might feel impossible. You want to muster the faith to make it happen. But maybe, instead, we can reshape what faith actually is:Can you believe God for it and at the same time believe Him even if He doesn’t do it?What I’m Doing:
What I’m Listening To:
What I’m Reading:
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