Perseverance
Perseverance
Perseverance in layman’s terms is continuing a task that is hard, but with faith it’s far
greater than that. Faithful perseverance is having a great joy for suffering and hardship because you know that everything is in God’s hands and he has a far greater plan for you than you could ever have for yourself. We see multiple examples of this in the Bible, for instance, Noah who spent many years constructing the ark; Job whom lived so faithfully that God allowed Satan to take everything from him and for a time, he still did not sin; and especially, the greatest test of perseverance there is, the perseverance of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who faced the worst suffering and betrayal of all for our salvation. 2 Corinthians 4:10 says, “Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies” (ESV), meaning that when persevering through suffering, we must honor and glorify God, being a light to those around us, so that we can grow closer to Him.
God’s word tells us many times that our naturally tendencies are to please the flesh and follow the ways of the world, and we as followers of God should be transformed and follow the Lord. When suffering, those of the world and those who idolize their flesh will often drown their sorrows in harmful acts. Most will try to cope using food, social media, video games, drugs, alcohol, lust, laziness, or even overworking. They may even try to persevere through their suffering by trying to take control of it all, but God is who’s in control. They will drift further and further away from God during these times until their only choice is to turn to Him.
However, those who are actively following and seeking the Lord have a different outlook on suffering and persevering through it. We know that God is in control and we know that he will never steer us wrong, so through crisis, we need to turn to prayer and trusting in Him. God knows the desires of each one of us, He knows our needs, our shortcomings, and our hearts. He will put us through suffering to challenge and strengthen our faith in Him, to teach us that all things are possible through Him (Matthew 19:26), and that He will never leave us nor forsaken us (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus died on the cross for us and our sins knowing that we will fall short, especially through hardships and difficulty, but God is guiding us through and loving us anyways.
So, all of this is to say, we will fall short, we will sin, we will go through suffering and
crisis, but if we persevere and trust in God, pray and study His word, and silent the noise to listen for His still small voice, He will get us through with a stronger faith and love for Him.
Perseverance in layman’s terms is continuing a task that is hard, but with faith it’s far
greater than that. Faithful perseverance is having a great joy for suffering and hardship because you know that everything is in God’s hands and he has a far greater plan for you than you could ever have for yourself. We see multiple examples of this in the Bible, for instance, Noah who spent many years constructing the ark; Job whom lived so faithfully that God allowed Satan to take everything from him and for a time, he still did not sin; and especially, the greatest test of perseverance there is, the perseverance of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who faced the worst suffering and betrayal of all for our salvation. 2 Corinthians 4:10 says, “Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies” (ESV), meaning that when persevering through suffering, we must honor and glorify God, being a light to those around us, so that we can grow closer to Him.
God’s word tells us many times that our naturally tendencies are to please the flesh and follow the ways of the world, and we as followers of God should be transformed and follow the Lord. When suffering, those of the world and those who idolize their flesh will often drown their sorrows in harmful acts. Most will try to cope using food, social media, video games, drugs, alcohol, lust, laziness, or even overworking. They may even try to persevere through their suffering by trying to take control of it all, but God is who’s in control. They will drift further and further away from God during these times until their only choice is to turn to Him.
However, those who are actively following and seeking the Lord have a different outlook on suffering and persevering through it. We know that God is in control and we know that he will never steer us wrong, so through crisis, we need to turn to prayer and trusting in Him. God knows the desires of each one of us, He knows our needs, our shortcomings, and our hearts. He will put us through suffering to challenge and strengthen our faith in Him, to teach us that all things are possible through Him (Matthew 19:26), and that He will never leave us nor forsaken us (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus died on the cross for us and our sins knowing that we will fall short, especially through hardships and difficulty, but God is guiding us through and loving us anyways.
So, all of this is to say, we will fall short, we will sin, we will go through suffering and
crisis, but if we persevere and trust in God, pray and study His word, and silent the noise to listen for His still small voice, He will get us through with a stronger faith and love for Him.
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