Long Haul Endurance

 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.

The Cure for the Bad News Blues

I don’t know about you, but I tend to enjoy the twisted humor of a good news, bad news joke.  I may not laugh outright, but I will often find myself letting out an amused groan.

Art Gallery Owner to one of his artists: I have some good news and some bad news.

Artist: What's the good news?

Gallery Owner: The good news is that a man came in here today asking if the price of your paintings would go up after you die.  When I told him they would, he bought every one of your paintings.

Artist: That's great!  What's the bad news?

Gallery Owner: The bad news is that man was your doctor!

See, there is always that little twist on the end that gets you.  You just don’t see it coming.  Here’s another one.

Criminal Lawyer to his client: I have some good news and some bad news.

Client: Well, give me the bad news first.

Lawyer: The bad news is that the DNA tests showed that it was your blood they found all over the crime scene.

Client: Oh no!  I'm ruined!  What's the good news?

Lawyer: The good news is your cholesterol is down to 130!

You didn’t see that coming did you?  That’s what makes the good news, bad news jokes work: the surprise ending.  And then there are some that have only an implied ending.

Doctor: I have some good news and some bad news.

Patient: What's the good news?

Doctor: The good news is they are naming a disease after you!

I’ll let you figure out the bad news.  Some of you are still saying, “I don’t get it.”

If they name a disease after you, it means it so new, they have absolutely no cure.

The life of Joseph is one whole good news-bad news story full of twists and turns that you could never see coming.  Favored son.  Despised brother sold into slavery.  Rises to the head of Potiphar’s house.  Does the right thing and ends up in prison.  Rises to the top position in the prison and interprets dreams for two of Pharaoh’s servants.  Is forgotten for 2 more years. Gets promoted to the top position in all of Egypt.  And you can imagine Joseph saying at each turn, “Wow…I never saw that coming.”

What inspires us about the life of Joseph is that he seems to take all of it in stride.  He’s a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of guy.  Once he gets beyond being the favored son with the multi-colored coat and pampered lifestyle and sold into slavery, he grows up quickly and has to make some hard decisions.  One of those decisions is that no matter what comes he will be faithful to God.   He didn’t wait until he got placed in the middle of the tests.  He pre-determined that though he did not know what lay ahead, he would be faithful, and that made many of his other choices much more simple.  It also caused him a lot of trouble as well.

We see that his faithfulness is what caused him to rise in Potiphar’s house, but we forget it was also his faithfulness that landed him in prison.  We get that it was his faithfulness that helped him rise in the prison and interpret the dreams, but we forget that it was his faithfulness that helped him hang on for 2 more years after having been forgotten.  And we rejoice when we see his faithfulness rewarded by moving into the second in command of all of the land.  But he then had to face his own demons, when his brothers showed up to buy food. 

If it had been you or me in that position, I dare say it may have been much harder for us to let it go with just testing them to see if they were changed men.  We would have had an opportunity to at least turn the knife a little bit and maybe make them suffer just a bit more than Joseph did.  And the act of forgiveness could only come through being faithful to seeing God’s bigger picture for all of their lives.

What is the cure for the bad news blues?  It’s really about perspective.  Our human perspective would have us looking to our bad news and dwelling on it.  We study every angle of our bad news and we fixate on it and we ruminate and stew and look for solutions.  Our hearts are weighed down and our souls are downcast.  We can’t see beyond the bad news.  That’s our perspective. But there is another perspective that brings a much larger view of our circumstances.  Let’s go back to our good news, bad news motif.

Good News. God created a perfect world. Bad News. Satan introduced sin as well as sickness, pain and death. Good News. Jesus came to die and rescue us from sin and death. Bad News. We still have a sinful world address and see and feel the results of sin. Good News. Jesus will return in the clouds of heaven, take us home for eternity and end the bad news forever.

When we begin to view life from this perspective, we can truly be thankful.  Not for all of the bad news, but that because of the Good news, we aren’t doomed to a bad news life forever.  And that no matter what comes, God will take the bad news in our lives and use it to create good news.  Listen to the words of scripture and gain a new perspective.

Rom. 8:18-28              I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Rom. 8:22       We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?  25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Rom. 8:26       In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

Rom. 8:28       And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Did you see any good news in there?  God wants you to be saved more than you want to be saved.  God sent Jesus to provide a mighty deliverance and He has sent the Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.