Perseverance

Perseverance

We give great honor to those who endure under suffering.

James 5:11

Do you have a child who is going through great emotional or physical turmoil? Are you experiencing financial difficulties? Do you ever have days when you feel like throwing in the towel? Sufferings—especially those that are ongoing—wear us down and challenge our perspective.

Pastor and author Kent Hughes suggests that our character and moral development are largely dependent on the experience of suffering: “We children of God seldom trust God as we do when we are in big trouble. Troubles knock secondary things away. They sharpen our focus and increase our grip on God.”^a

Some of the sufferings I’ve experienced have produced unique opportunities for service to Christ that never would have been possible if I hadn’t suffered and persevered—imperfect as my perseverance was. When I look at those opportunities in retrospect, I’m grateful for glimpses of God’s good plan. Other sufferings I’ve undergone haven’t made sense to me even in hindsight. For those unanswered questions, I draw great comfort from Bible characters like Job, Joseph, Hannah, and Daniel. All of them waited and persevered, and God blessed them for it. We honor them now when we recount their stories, realizing that many of them experienced little or no honor during their trials.

When sufferings come, we won’t always know the answer to the question “Why?” but we do know whom to run to for strength to persevere.

God,

Where can we run when there seems to be trouble all around us? To you! Please help us to trust you more, draw near to you, and commune with you, so that we can keep going and not throw in the towel. Amen.