Hebrews 10:26-39 | What's a lesson for the original audience?

There is no doubt that the Hebrew people were going through incredible trials and tribulations. The difficulty they were suffering was astronomical. They were being kicked out of their families. They were losing their communities. They were being killed. There was pressure on all sides to come back. They were getting hungry. They were thirsty. Eventually as all of this stacks up, they begin asking if it is worth it. Surely, in our own rights, many of us have suffered and asked the same question.

Just after driving the message of hope and then of fear, the writer of Hebrews asks the audience to do a simple thing: reflect.

32 But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33 partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 34 for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
-Hebrews 10:32-34

Given everything it is that these people are losing, the writer asks them to reflect on their own lives. They have already endured suffering. They were made a spectacle. They were joined with those who were treated the same. But what bled from their character was not fear or self preservation. It was compassion on those who also suffered. It was joy in the persecution for they understood there was a reward that endured. Following the reflection is then the recovery.

35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
-Hebrews 10:35

The endurance of these sufferings is not hopeless. The confidence that was held on to then is the same confidence to hold onto now. There is a great reward that is promised for those who endure. The author urges these people to then continue to endure. Reflecting on what was done and how the Lord showed up leads these people to recover what was threatened to be lost.

What lesson do you see?