As this Covid thing rages on, I find myself growing very weary, and some days, just flat out discouraged. It's so hard some days just to get up and put one foot in front of the other and make yourself go out the door to do the same things you've done so many days before. And to make it worse, it sometimes feels like you aren't getting anywhere. Which is what makes today's word stand out like a sore thumb. I woke up this morning with the word "ENDURANCE" on my mind.
I thought first of Joseph and all he had to endure. I thought of the text that we looked at a few months ago that started simply with the words, "Two years passed..." when Pharaoh's butler had forgotten him in the jail after promising to tell Pharaoh about him. Contrast that with the idea that we are about 9 or 10 months into this COVID trial, and he had another 14 months totally BEYOND that. Bless his heart...and that was AFTER he had been sold into slavery by his brothers and falsely accused by Potiphar's wife! He truly ENDURED a lot!
My mind went next to Moses and how much he had to endure just leading the children of Israel through the wilderness for 40 years. I will be finishing 40 years of ministry next May seeking to lead the children of Adventists and at many turns, it has been totally exhausting. The complaining, the stubbornness, the power plays and the criticism that Moses had to endure, I've also had to endure...but what's worse, unlike Moses, I've turned around and done the same to those God put over me. They have had to endure ME! (and I know that sometimes I'm not the most pleasant to be around).
I next thought about Jesus. He endured much. When you think of a spotless, totally innocent, holy being, having to just COME to this earth, it had to be painful to His divinity. Perhaps that is why God had Him be born and grow up, so He didn't have to learn about all of the evil all at once. Contrast that to the end of His life AFTER He had encountered demons, masses of broken people and hated by those who claimed to be representing Him.
To be alone in the Garden, much like Eve thousands of years earlier, facing the tempter and enemy of souls, but with the heat turned up way beyond what Eve and Adam had to face. Yet Jesus endured. He held on and persisted in prayer. He asked for what He wanted, yet said, "But not if it is in place of YOUR Will, Father. I want YOUR will above mine." And HE endured to the very end of His life to give us hope in the middle of ours.
It is during the most difficult times that we are to endure hardship so the Lord can show Himself strong in our lives. The Bible doesn’t just speak to physical suffering, but especially to suffering for the sake of the Gospel. It doesn’t just call us to endure suffering, but to embrace it. Check out these passages.
2Tim. 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
8 ¶ So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.
1Pet. 4:12 ¶ Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
19 ¶ So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
What was that? Those who suffer according to God’s will… whoa…hold the phone… What does that mean? God wants us to suffer?
No…but He doesn’t necessarily want to rescue us from the troubles of this life because if He did, He knows that we would just be satisfied with staying here and then we would never long for heaven…so He allows suffering. Suffering, from that perspective then, is within His will… Whenever it comes, Peter says our response should be to commit ourselves to our faithful Creator and continue to do good.
Paul writing to Timothy says: 2 Timothy 2:3 "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus." -
The writer of the book of Hebrews 12:7 "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"
James adds this. James 1:2 ¶ Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (endurance) 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
That’s a reason for endurance. It helps us become mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Need one more reason to develop endurance and perseverance in your life?
James 1:12 ¶ Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
So yeah...I'm tired of this COVID mess, and I wish it would just go away... I'm tired of this election mess and the uncertainties it continues to bring. I'm overwhelmed at times by all of the evil, sickness, death, and other things beyond my control, but I am called to endure it, and whatever other trials come my way, knowing that my faith is being built day by day, one choice at a time and that in due time, like Joseph, I will be taken from this dump of a prison to the palaces, not of Pharaoh, but of God Himself.
Hold on my friend! You too, with the the grace and help of God, can endure today.
