Dear
Friends,
I have been
thinking a lot about endurance lately. There
are many people I love, including myself that need encouragement right now so I
decided to write a love note of sorts, to us all. Someday, we will all to sit at the feet of
Jesus and praise Him. O, What a reunion
that will be!
Initially, here
are a few scriptures to ponder.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since
we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God. (NKJV)
Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done
the will of God, you may receive the promise: ‘For yet a little while, and He
who is coming will come and will not tarry.
Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has
not pleasure in him.’ (NKJV)
In a world
that wants everything right now and wants to throw everything away, the concept
of endurance has been lost. What does
endurance mean? How can we apply this to
our lives?
In order to
increase the endurance in our lives, we must learn to work hard. Not all things in life come easy. In fact, I would venture to say that most
things that are worth accomplishing require a lot of hard work to attain. If it were easy, it would not be so valuable.
Both verses above state that endurance comes from doing the will of God. Do you know what His will is for you? When did you last study and apply His will
for your life? We must be constantly
reading and studying to know what His will is for our lives. For me, this time in my life is one that is
very hard. It is hard to raise children,
transition some to college, and be caring for aging family members. These are all things that he calls us to do in
his Holy Scriptures. God never promised
us that the road to heaven would be easy, in fact just the opposite. Think
about all the challenges that have taken place throughout the centuries, in the
name of Christ, starting with Christ himself.
Another thing
that we need to increase our endurance is patience. We live in a world that wants everything now,
but really they wanted it ALL yesterday.
As Christians looking to His will, that may mean we need to make a different
choice than the world. ‘But
seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall
be added to you.’ Matthew 10:32-33 (NKJV). If having whatever you want NOW distracts you
from seeking God first, then you must learn to be patient for endurance to
come. Ask yourself these questions: Is whether I get this now or later going to
make any difference on the day of judgement? How will getting this now glorify
God? How will God be honored if I
practice patience in this decision? Sometimes it is just spiritually heathy to
practice patience. ‘But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.’ Galatians
5:22-23 (ESV)
Finally
endurance requires never, ever quitting.
Ralph Waldo Emmerson once said, ‘Our greatest glory is not in never
falling, but in rising up every time we fall’.
Life is going to provide us plenty of opportunities for falling. It is what we do with those opportunities
that create endurance, or not. There is
only one perfect one and that is not you or I. In my life, imperfections help me to realize
how reliant on Christ I must be. God basically promised us that we will sin
(John 3:23) it is what we do with that sin that creates endurance. Do we wallow in it, beat ourselves up, talk
about how we are such a failure and will never make it to heaven OR do we pull
ourselves up by our boots straps, repent, pray fervently, and go on doing
better today than we did yesterday. Believe
it or not, the latter is much more effective for spiritual growth. We see both responses in Jesus small group of
apostles. There was Judas and
Peter. Both responded to sin in their
lives in a different manner. So which are
you? Judas? Or Peter?
There are
probably many other facets to endurance.
These are just three: Working
hard to do things that are often difficult, being patient in life and never,
ever quitting, no matter what. Let us
all keep our eyes on the goal…HEAVEN.
In Christian
Love, Suzie
