Hebrews 10:23 tells us to. “Hold fast the confession of our hope
without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” The term “hold fast” is a nautical term speaking of a
sailor keeping his ship on course in spite of the intensity of the storm around
him. What does that tell us? First of all, it tells us that there's no way
to get through life without storms.
Don't ever let anyone tell you that if you choose to trust Jesus as your
personal savior your life will become easy.
Folks, listen, there will be storms.
These storms may be financial, occupational, relational, parental,
marital, physical, medical, emotional, mental, or even spiritual. Whatever the storm might be, we are to hold
fast to the confession of our hope.
Good evidence that there
was true genuine faith in your life is when you hold fast even during the
storms of life. Many people today claim
to follow Jesus but when the storms come into their life, they’re gone. They may have professed faith in Jesus but
they never really possessed faith in Jesus.
There are a whole lot of people like that today, people who claim to be
followers of Jesus, but as soon as the storms came into their life, they say,
“Forget you, Jesus! I'm out of here!” In contrast, those who have truly drawn near
to God in faith will hold fast when the storms come into their lives.
And why is it possible for
genuine believers to hold fast during the storms of life? It’s possible because God made a promise. In Philippians 1:6, Paul said, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who
began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Because I have full confidence in the
character of God and because I have full confidence in the promise of God, I
know that He will come through. As a
result, I can hold fast to the confession of my hope no matter how bad the
storm gets. No matter what circumstance
comes into my life, I can hold fast. No
matter what doubt comes into my mind, I can hold fast. I can do this because the God that I serve has
made a promise and I can count on His promise.
Folks, Listen, my salvation is fully built in the hope of Jesus Christ and
because of what He has done for me, because of God's promise to me. No matter what storm comes into my life, I can
hold fast.
My Grandpa Distler was a
pastor for over 50 years before ending his ministry as a superintendent of a
Rescue Mission in northern California.
He’s a big reason why I am a pastor today. Years ago, my Grandpa was spending his final
days in his battle against cancer. I
flew out to visit my Grandpa on the west coast knowing it would be the final
time I would ever get to see him and talk to him this side of heaven. I’ll never forget when it finally came time
to say good-bye for the last time before I headed head back to the airport to
return home. I walked into his bedroom where my Grandpa was laying on a
hospital bed, his body riddled with cancer.
I laid my head on his chest, weeping, as I said good-bye to him. I remember my grandpa wrapping his arms
around me and speaking the last words to me that I would ever hear him say. He simply
said, “Son, don't ever give up on the Lord”.
Those were his final words. “Don't
ever give up on the Lord.”
I'm not sure I understood
the power of those words back then. But
the older I get, the more meaningful they have become. Since that day I've gone through some storms,
and some of those storms have tempted me to “throw in the towel” when it comes
to my faith and my calling. But during
those storms I remembered those last words of my grandpa, “Son, don't ever give
up on the Lord.” Or to put it in the
words of the author of Hebrews, “Hold fast to the confession of your hope….for
He who promised is faithful!”
Perhaps today you are
going through a storm. For some of you,
there's a storm just ahead on your horizon.
And in the midst of that storm that you are enduring or will soon find
yourself in the thick of, you may face the temptation to say, “Forget you, God! I give up!”
I hope that when that temptation comes that you will remember the words
of my grandpa. No matter what storm
comes into your life, no matter how intense that storm grows, don't ever give
up on the lord. Hold fast to your
confession of hope because he who promised to complete the work He began in
your life is faithful to do just that.
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