In yesterday's passage the writer spoke about the generation of people that the Lord brought out of Egypt. So many of them rebelled and hardened their hearts against the Lord that He didn't allow them to enter the promised land, but instead waited until their death to lead the Israelites on into the promised land We don't want to miss out on God's best like those who died in the wilderness. The Lord Jesus makes us a beautiful offer, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) But He's not going to force on us the peace which surpasses all understanding. (Philippians 4:7) We have to do our part by being soft-hearted toward the Lord and by believing in Him and by being obedient to Him.
"Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed." (Hebrews 4:1-2) God made the children of Israel a promise, but the only ones who received the fulfillment of the promise were the ones who believed. We who are in Christ also have had great promises made to us, but we can only experience the fulfillment of these blessings if we accept them on faith. If we don't believe we can have the peace of God in our hearts, then we can't receive this peace. Our unbelief keeps us from feeling this peace. Why was Jesus unable to do many miracles in His hometown? Because the people who knew Him best didn't believe that the Messiah could be a poor carpenter from Nazareth. (Matthew 13:58) It's not that their unbelief robbed Jesus of any of His power; it's that their unbelief blocked their ability to receive blessings from Him. He could have forced miracles on them, but He doesn't work that way. The Lord is a gentleman who respects our human dignity and He's not going to make us believe anything we don't want to believe, and He's not going to force blessings on us that we are too hard-hearted to accept from Him.
"Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, 'So I declared on oath in My anger, 'They shall never enter My rest.'" (Hebrews 4:3a) God was angry with those who didn't believe. He had proven Himself to them by mighty works, yet they refused to trust Him. We who believe, though, do have access to the blessings He's promised. God is a rewarder of faith, for "without faith no one can please God". (Hebrews 11:6a) God is not pleased with faithlessness and He doesn't reward faithlessness, but to the faithful He shows Himself faithful. (Psalm 18:25)
I want to claim the promises of Scripture for myself, don't you? I want the blessings the Lord has promised to those who love Him. We all go through dark nights of doubt and fear. We all have days filled with anxiety. We struggle with believing God is going to do what He says He's going to do. But Christ, our great high priest, became a man so He could fully understand how terrifying it sometimes is to be human. When our faith feels low, we can appeal to Him because He knows how we feel. He knows it's possible for us to believe He's able to help us and at the same time to have doubts that He will help us, so the best thing for us to do is say to Him exactly what the father of a sick boy once said to Him, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24b)
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