Through Faith and Patience

The writer of Hebrews tells us exactly how the promises of God are inherited, and it is a combination of two things: faith and patience. Faith lays hold of the promise as true; patience holds on through the long wait until it is fulfilled. We tend to be strong in wanting the promise and weak in waiting for it. But Hebrews pairs them deliberately: those who inherit the promises are those who both believe and endure, who keep trusting and keep waiting, often for a very long time.

The warning attached is that we "not become sluggish", spiritually lazy, slack, giving up in the gap between the promise and its fulfilment. That gap is real and often long; many of God's promises are not fulfilled overnight, and some not fully until eternity. In that waiting, faith alone is not enough if it has no patience; we will let go before the harvest. And patience alone is not enough if it has no faith; we will simply endure without hope. Together, faith and patience inherit the promises. We are pointed to "those who" have gone before, the great cloud of witnesses who believed and waited and received.

Whatever promise you are waiting on, take both into today: faith to believe it, and patience to keep waiting for it. That is how the promises are inherited.