Life's Daily Challenge Devotional

Relationship and faith

“Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’” Hebrews 3:10-11.

Read Hebrews 3:1-19

Dear rested one,

I've seen so many people try to make themselves believe the promises of God through the tough times. This is very difficult to do. Faith is really not something that you can force. It is a natural outflow of what or who you know. By the very definition of faith, we believe and hope things for which we have no proof. This belief is based upon previous knowledge or performance. Knowing God means becoming intimate with His character. Even if we have not personally seen Him do a particular thing before, our relationship with Him tells us that He will not fail us.

It is crucial that we begin to see ourselves from the perspective of being part of God's family. We are not mere servants. We are children of God, who have been adopted into a new family. God loves us as much as He loves Jesus and has called us to jointly share in the inheritance of His first born Son. This frees us to rest. We do not have to strive or struggle to force things into being, nor to protect that which we have. We understand that our Father's supply is endless, and that His love for us is even deeper. He wants to give us good things.

The third chapter of Hebrews equates unrest to unbelief. This dangerous condition of the heart comes when we try to finish what Christ already accomplished at Calvary. On the cross, Jesus said, "It is finished!" Trying to add to His work is an endless treadmill of futility and striving. This unrest will keep us from entering into the promises that God has made to us. The children of Israel made this costly mistake many years before, and it prevented them from entering their promised land. We should learn from their mistake.

Don’t wander in the wilderness because of unbelief! If you find yourself struggling in this valley of unrest, the answer is not to try to make yourself have more faith. Instead, answer the Lord’s invitation to know Him more deeply. His character is faultless. The more you know Him, the deeper your faith will grow! Your relationship with Him will deliver you from the torment of anxiety as you develop “intimate history” with the One Who cannot fail. Selah!