One of my all-time favorite verses in Isaiah 40:31. It says, “But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Several times I’ve dreamed about being able to fly! It was like “mounting up on wings like eagles” rather than lifting off of a runway from an airport. It was effortless and majestic! I always like to think about this promise being fulfilled literally. There are several statements that make me think this. When Jesus ascended in Matthew 1:9 it says he “was lifted up” as if it was effortless. We will be like him. Paul tells us in Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” But we have to wait for it. That’s what the author of the book of Hebrews tells his readers. Hebrews 10:36 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”
I hate waiting! Doing God’s will has been explained to us by Jesus himself when disciples said that they wanted to do the works of God. Jesus said in John 6:29, “This is the work of God that you believe in the one that He sent.” So we must believe and then wait. It’s something we have not fully received yet. Kent says, “The author looks ahead to the consummation of salvation at the coming of Christ and urges that their patience be increased through their trials so that nothing may hinder the full experiencing of the promise of salvation, a promise described earlier as entering into God’s rest.”[1]
But remember, believing is “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Through faith in Christ, our high priest, who sits at the right hand of God at this moment making intercession for us, we have a certain future. We long for it! We look ahead to it and we wait patiently for it. But it’s our faith, our certainty, our assurance in the faithfulness of God to do what He has promised that gives us rest now amidst the trials and storms of life. One commentator writes, “The expression promise is a key word in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It stands for forgiveness of sins, in terms of the new covenant, but especially for complete salvation in Jesus Christ. God’s promise to man is unbreakable. What God has promised, the believer will receive.”[2] Perseverance in the conviction of the full sufficiency of Christ guarantees our future inheritance in the coming kingdom. But perseverance in the full sufficiency of Christ brings peace to us even today amidst our trials and hardships. Just wait for Jesus!
[1] Homer A. Kent Jr., The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1983), 212–213.
[2] Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, Exposition of Hebrews, vol. 15, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 302.