Hebrews 11:32-12:13 These heroes of the faith pressed forward to the goal, and they received the gold. As we see by the lives mentioned in this passage of Hebrews 11, many were martyred and tortured for their faith. How did they get through these great trials of faith, which are even more precious to the Lord than gold? The answer is simple: They kept their focus on the Provider, not the problem. We read in Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Jesus knew the joy we would all experience because of His sacrificial death and resurrection. He knew the joy He would experience every time someone was liberated from rejection, disease, sickness and bondage of all kinds. He saw the joy we would receive when we repented of our sins and received His forgiveness and cleansing. He saw the joy we would encounter when we would be translated from the kingdom of darkness into His kingdom of light where there is peace, right standing with God and joy. This joy provided Him strength to get through every trial and to even endure the torture of the cross for our sakes. What got Jesus through every trial was His focus. He kept His eyes ever on the Father. What will get us through every trial is our focus. We must keep our eyes upon Jesus.
We all will experience trials, troubles and temptations. Some of the promises in the Bible we seldom claim are, "In the world you will have tribulation," and "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all." The righteous are also promised persecution. Only as we look unto Jesus will we be able to endure these last days. The following prayer was shared with me today, and I thought I would pass it on to you:
Lord, help me to look at my problems in the light of Your power instead of looking at You in the shadows of my problems.
READ: Ezekiel 29:1-30:26; Hebrews 11:32-12:13; Psalm 112:1-10; Proverbs 27:17
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