James 1:12-18 ESV
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under
trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which
God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I
am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself
tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his
own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when
it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
Romans 5:3-4 ESV
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings,
knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character,
and character produces hope.
How to Not Give up - How to Persevere In Hard Times
Faithful Christians Persevere Through Obstacles and
Tests.
There are many inspiring true stories of men and
women throughout time who have accomplished fantastic and impressive things.
However, they were not always great athletes, business people or military
personnel, but sometimes-average people, people who were highly motivated by a
cause they deemed greater than their own lives. With perseverance, they were
able to achieve astonishing successes, and sometimes-stunning victories against
seemingly insurmountable odds. In addition, perseverance was the key ingredient
in every success story.
After more than 10,000 attempts at inventing the
incandescent light bulb before he was successful, Thomas Alva Edison said,
"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they
were to success when they gave up."
Perseverance is steady persistence in a course of
action, a purpose, especially in spite of difficulties or discouragement.
Determination, tenacity and patience also are closely related qualities.
Many examples of this kind of resolve can be found
in the Bible. Genesis gives the account of Noah who built the ark over the
course of 120 years, surrounded by corrupt and contemptuous unbelievers. Moses
led the hardhearted Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. The Apostle
Paul, however, serves as a superstar example of perseverance.
Paul's
ministry, from his unique conversion to his tragic execution
spanned about 30 years. During that time, he took three missionary journeys.
According to Christian History Magazine, he covered about 14,000 miles, mostly
on foot. In two years and three months, under the ministry of Paul, all Asia
Minor heard the word of the Lord Jesus, according to Acts 19:8-10. Throughout
his travels, Paul was constantly dealing with obstacles. Some scholars say he
was stoned to death, but was revived and continued to preach.
Second Corinthians 11:24-27 describes in vivid
detail the hardships that Paul endured: "From the Jews five times I
received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I
was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the
deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils
of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in
perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting
often, in cold and nakedness." In addition to all of this, Paul always had
in mind a concern for all of the churches and the people he had won to the
Lord.
Paul spoke often of fighting the good fight. His
fight was against the flesh. That aspect of us that is weak, that gives in to
pain, to discomfort, to pessimism, to discouragement, to rejection, to loss, to
loneliness, to anything the adversary or the Satan puts before us. That fight
was the faith within him that there is something greater, something his
misfortunes were grooming him for that God was waiting for him to fulfill. He
wanted more than anything to please his lord. To please the messiah that met
him on the road to Damascus and blinded Saul, giving birth to a man who saw the
world most differently after a symbolic removal of the scales in three days.
This man was no stranger to crisis. No stranger to strife, to discouraging
events, to hatred, to threats, to the struggles he endured to create the very
church Jesus would need to make his salvation for the world a reality for all
who accept him.
No one on the face of the earth has had to endure
all the things that Job endured at one time. He lost everything in one fell
swoop, his children, his livestock, his servants, his livelihood and his
health. All he was left with was a bitter wife who added to this poor man's
misery. One day he had it all and the next, nothing. Job's reaction was not to
curse God, but to worship him and the first words out of his mouth, "The
LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be
praised." Job 1:21 What incredible faith this saint of old had! There are
not many who would echo Job's words given the same scenario in their lives. If
all this was not enough for poor Job to suffer, he had a wife who wanted him to
curse God and die and friends who were sure Job had sinned greatly to bring
such devastation upon himself. While those around him tried to "help"
by pulling him down, his faith remained sure. He trusted God to see him through
and he knew the outcome would be gold! Job knew that if gold was put into the
fire, not only would it come out still gold, but it would come out purer and
more luminous. Job went into this furnace of affliction an innocent, righteous
man and he came out the same, only better, more pure, stronger. In the end,
despite the sad treatment of his "friends", he came out stronger, more
sure of God and His faithfulness. Fire does that; it burns off all the dross
and makes the gold purer, more valuable. Job's trials did have a clarifying
effect on his life and in the end made him even more valuable to His God. So
with us; when the fire seems to consume us, let us not lose heart, for we will
come out purer and more valuable to Him. Let us, like Job, praise the
name of LORD for all He places in our lives, both
the good and bad, for if we allow Him to have his way in our lives, we, like Job,
will come forth as gold.
I have heard individuals say that God will not test
us by his own intent and action. However, we may ask God to test us (which is a
testy situation in itself). The Psalm is a demonstration of this. Psalms 26:2
(NIV)
Test me,
LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;
Also, it seems that God allows us to be tested:
Job 1:12 (NIV)
The LORD said
to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man
himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the
LORD.
Another verse that shows that God allows temptation:
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
No temptation has overtaken you except what is
common to humanity. In addition, God is faithful; he will not let you be
tempted beyond what you can bear. Nevertheless, when you are tempted, he will
also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
A favorite verse of mine and one I have used on
numerous occasions in this class
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the
faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless,
of course, you fail the test? 2 Corinthians 13:5
It lets me know that every moment in our life is an
opportunity to see just where we are in our relationship with God. We should
all know at this stage of our Christian walk that we are two beings in one
body. The Spirit and the Flesh. The Spirit is God in his image with in you. It
is that individualized expression of God that when we are functioning in this
form we are in perfect tune with the grand scheme of things no matter how
chaotic, happenstance, and random they may appear to us. But when we are living
in the spirit our soul is at peace with what we are going through and somehow
knows just how to react when faced with hostility, negativity, trials,
misfortune, the wrath of nature upon the earth, and any other opportunity to
reflect God with in.
The other half, the flesh, gives us our most trying
and difficult times because we are poorly prepared to react to anything we did
not expect, plan for, or agree with. It makes us feel depressed and hopeless.
It diminishes our faith and at times makes us question the very existence of
God. We see it all around us as people lash out at one another, act in selfish
ways, and behave in a self-serving way. The scriptures warn us about the flesh.
The flesh after all, is a very temporal aspect of who we are and it, like the
earth, will become dust and fall away, leaving no trace that it was ever here.
I ask you to say a prayer for those who live in the
flesh today. In New York and New Jersey as frustration mounts and desperation
reveals itself. I ask that God remind us in an internal way. In a prodding of
the heart of who we are. I pray he convicts us of our sin and compels us to
repent and return to the Lord. Our lives would be so much more meaningful and
permanent if we realize this before we ever take that
first action. He is with you now at this very
moment. Take advantage of this time to realign your soul with God.
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