Welcome to Nancy Guthrie’s guided journal “Hoping for Something Better,” which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007).
New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far, stay subscribed to this feed and you can begin when it starts over. Be sure to start your own journal within your Beliefnet profile or in a notebook to respond to Nancy’s prompts.
Day 4
There is something better than turning back when the way of faith in Jesus gets hard. It is persevering toward him in spite of heartache and hardship.
The writer of Hebrews knew he was talking to people who were already suffering and he knew that their suffering for the cause of Christ was only going to increase in the days ahead. So he gave them the same encouragement that we need when difficulty sweeps into our lives: “Hold on. Don’t give up. Keep a firm grasp on Jesus, no matter what comes.”

• keep up our courage (3:6)
• keep on loving others (6:11)
• hold on to the security of God’s promises (6:18)
• draw near to God (7:19)
• don’t waver in unbelief (10:23)

Don’t we all need that kind of encouragement from the sidelines when life gets hard?
Where do you see yourself pulling back because obedience to Christ has become difficult or standing up for Christ has become costly?
How do these encouragements to persevere in Hebrews help you?
–Nancy Guthrie