Do YOU Have What It Takes to Persevere?

It's been two years since the devastating January 12, 2010, earthquake that flattened many parts of Haiti—and according to one expert, "There's been a remarkable lack of progress."

Half a million Haitians still live in tents, 60 percent are jobless, and many people don't have decent water. How do we continue to love a place, a country, a church, or an individual who seems so broken? Or in the words of another article, how do we love a tough, complex place (or person) "where things don't happen quickly"?

Louis Dorvilier, the representative of the Lutheran World Federation in Haiti, said, "Hope is here. It's why we are all still alive. It's only because of God's grace. We need to celebrate that."
-Huffington Post, January 11, 2012, Chris Herlinger

I use this illustration as an example of perseverance. But what is perseverance, and how does one go about developing it? In Ephesians 6:17-18, Paul is speaking about the Christian’s need to put on the whole armor of God. This armor is available and may be worn by the Christian. But this armor is nothing if the Christian does not have the right attitude.

Paul speaks of this attitude in verse 18. He first speaks to the Christian's need to engage in prayer. He (the Christian) also needs to watch with all perseverance. The word perseverance means to persist or endure in spite of elements arrayed against you. From its Latin roots, the word literally means “through severity.”

If I may, I would briefly like to talk about perseverance in our society today. In an age of instant oatmeal and microwave popcorn, we’re not too big on perseverance. We want everything to be delivered to our door step, on our time line, at our convenience. Am I correct? In such a society, how do we develop the art of perseverance?

This may seem like a difficult task. After all, perseverance can be awfully hard work. But, it can be acquired! How do we do this? To develop the art of perseverance we need some important ingredients. These are: Tests/Trials/Troubles.

Allow me to clarify this. Before we can persevere we need the severe. We noted earlier that the word literally meant, “through severity.” This can come in the form of tests, trials, or troubles. One can’t persevere without the severe.

The faithful Christian will know his share of troubles (2 Timothy 3:12; 2 Corinthians 11:24-28; ). Not all troubles, however, are external. We can place tremendous pressure upon ourselves through worry, setting unrealistic goals for ourselves, thinking negatively toward our friends, not being thankful, not rejoicing in the Lord. We need perseverance when we get ourselves into these such situations as well.

When we persevere through trials we will grow as Christians (1 Peter 1:7; James 1:12). Enduring tests and trials will help us to persevere.

Along with tests, trials, and troubles we need "truth" in order to develop perseverance. Truth gives us a reason to persevere. It’s not enough to persevere if we don’t have something to hold onto. Truth is worth persevering for. In order for our perseverance to have value we must have truth in our lives.

We’ve got to persevere in doing the right things. When all else is crumbling around us, this gives us something to hold onto (John 8:31-32; Acts 4:21-22 ). By persevering in doing what is right, we can be assured that our perseverance isn’t empty (1 Corinthians 15:58). Additionally, God is well pleased with such sacrifices (Hebrews 13:16). Knowing and practicing the truth will aid us in perseverance.

"Time" is also a necessary component to perseverance. We can’t say that we’ve persevered until a sufficient amount of time has gone by. We’re all familiar with the question, “Are we there yet”? When such a question is asked without a sufficient amount of time passing, we know that someone hasn’t been persevering. It's worth mentioning here that "repetition" also helps us to persevere. The more we experience something, the better we are able to endure it!

We recognize, however, the temporal nature of things that happen in time and this helps us to persevere more (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). When we know that our days on the earth are limited, time can be our friend as we struggle to persevere (Psalm 90:9-10). I think it is safe to say that time is our friend in developing the art of perseverance.

The last component to developing perseverance, which I will discuss, is "trust." In order to persevere, we need to trust in the Lord. Trusting in God will get us through difficulties like nothing else and will help is persevere (Proverbs 3:5-6). The following are some clear examples of this:

-When we trust in the Lord our future will be secure (Psalm 37:5).
-When we trust in the Lord we have a safe haven (Psalm 62:8).
-When we trust in the Lord we shall endure (Psalm 125:1).
-When we trust in the Lord we have great strength (Isaiah 26:4).

Trusting in the Lord is key in developing the art of perseverance.

In summary of our discussion today, we learned that to develop the art of perseverance we need:

1) Tests/Trials
2) Truth
3) Time
4) Trust

We should value the quality of perseverance in our lives and learn to develop it as we seek to walk in the Christian faith. Dear friends, I ask you this, "Who would possibly be better to trust than God?"

Scripture reference: Ephesians 6:17-18

Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, I believe in You as my God and my Saviour. Make me more faithful to Your Gospel and commandments. May I come to live more fully in the life You have given me. Keep Your Love alive within my heart and soul so that I may become worthy of You. Teach me to value and be thankful for all of Your Gifts. Help us to strive for eternal life. Amen

May God bless you,

Randi