My husband and I spent most of the 1990’s watching Seinfeld. (Anyone else?!) In one of my favorite episodes, Jerry arrives at the rental car counter and learns they ran out of cars. He is baffled that, despite his reservation, the company doesn’t have a car for him. He tells the employee, “You know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation – the holding.” 

We can sometimes fall into similar thinking about our faith. We’ve seen the Lord work in our lives, and we know His salvation – but will it stick? What if we wake up one day to find that the hope we’ve been grasping is an illusion, and we have nothing to keep holding on to? We find this encouragement in Hebrews 10: 

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23, NIV)

In this verse, the writer of Hebrews exhorts us to hold unswervingly to our hope in Christ. Holding unswervingly means not turning away and chasing false sources of hope. Throughout the twists and turns of life’s road, the only trustworthy foundation of hope we have is Christ and our salvation in Him. 

This hope isn’t wishful thinking, the way we often use the word “hope” in English. For a Christian, hope is confidence in the rock-solid promises of God. We can hold unswervingly to this hope because—and only because—the One who makes these promises is faithful to keep them. 

Our assurance doesn’t come from the strength of our faith, but from the object of our faith – the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. God can be trusted to always complete what He started (Philippians 1:6). His faithfulness is the reason we can grab on tight to hope and never let go. 

Counterfeit sources of hope in this world will come and go. One day you may wake up to find that the earthly hope you were grasping is gone. So instead of trying to grasp the shifting sand of this world, hold fast to the faithful One who keeps all His promises to you . . . the One who will hold you until the end. 

No matter what you face this week, hold on to the hope you’ve been given by your faithful Father. 

I find myself spending more time staring out my windows than I ever have before. (That’s life in 2020, right?!) The other day, I was admiring a beautiful bird with bright, bold colors. Then I noticed an ordinary robin, clad in mostly drab colors with muted red on its chest. It struck me that I looked right past the ordinary bird, not even seeing it as I watched its more intriguing feathered friend.  

Do you ever feel like the robin in my yard, wondering if God has overlooked you? Maybe you look around and see others who are more successful or more spiritual. You feel ordinary—or maybe even worse than ordinary—and think God couldn’t possibly care about someone like you. 

God is not like me—and that is good news! He doesn’t shower the attractive with His attention and ignore the ordinary. Our heavenly Father cares for all of His children. Listen to Jesus’ words in Matthew 10: 

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31)

Two for a penny—back in Jesus’ day, sparrows were the cheapest animal you could buy for your sacrifice. Even the poor could afford to buy one or two. And we read in Luke that if you paid two pennies, you could get five sparrows—they were of so little value that they’d throw in an extra for free. You can’t get much more ordinary than that! And yet, these insignificant birds are of great value in the eyes of their Creator. Not one falls to the ground without His knowledge and involvement. 

God’s care for us, His beloved children, is even greater, because we are of even greater value to Him. He knows each and every hair on our heads. God is concerned with and sovereign over even the smallest details of our lives. Nothing touches a hair on your head before passing through the hands of your loving, faithful, and sovereign heavenly Father. 

No matter what you face this week, fear not—God values you and cares for you.