Monthly Newsletter Article

Finding Endurance (part 2)

We are instructed by God in His word to cultivate endurance in our walk with Him.  Hebrews 10:36 admonishes, “You have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”  As Christians we have “need of endurance” to assure that we receive all of God’s promises.  In Luke 21:19 it is Jesus Himself who says, “…by your endurance you will gain your lives (souls)”.  The context there is the persecution, suffering and adversity one faces as a true disciple of Christ.  We want the promises of God, we understand there is a cost, we long to gain our souls by the will of Christ.  So, how can we begin to cultivate endurance in our lives?

Last month we looked at two possible sources of endurance.  Sometimes the various trials of life we encounter which test our faith can provide an opportunity for endurance to grow (James 1:2-4).  Sometimes it is the loving discipline we encounter from our Heavenly Father which helps our endurance grow (Hebrews 12:7-11).  While last month we learned to surrender to the source of endurance—this month we’ll look at submitting to God for strength to endure.

Submission can be a challenge for some.   As Americans we “don’t submit to nobody—nowhere and no-how.”   Not even to grammar teachers who reprimand us for using double and triple negatives in one sentence!  We are the world’s only super-power!  We believe we are masters of our own destiny.  If there’s a serious problem, we just throw a lot of money at it until it goes away or we feel better about the problem. 

In Wyoming, we do things the “Cowboy Way”.  Do you have a problem?  Don’t tell anyone about it – just deal with it yourself.  Do you have some pressing need?  Well then suffer in silence.  Folks apply the “Cowboy Way” when they tell you to “Cowboy Up!”  What they mean is,   “Pick yourself up by your own bootstraps and just get along little doggie!” 

It’s tough, but if we want to cultivate the kind of endurance by which we can gain our souls we must learn what it means to submit to God for strength.

There are two possible ways we can submit to God for strength to endure.  We can submit to God by obeying His holy word and sovereign will; and we can submit to God by approaching His throne of grace to find help in time of need through prayer.

Do you remember Job who endured such a great and terrible loss?  While his wife was encouraging him to curse God and die, his best friends were admonishing him to repent of some secret sin.  What was Job concentrating on during that time?  In Job 6:10 he responds, “But it is still my consolation, and I rejoice in unsparing pain, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One”.  >

Job was experiencing “unsparing pain” – it couldn’t possibly get any worse for him.  Yet in all his suffering, Job had one consolation.  He had joy in the knowledge that he had not denied God’s word.  He was suffering severely – but it comforted him to keep God’s will supreme despite his anguish.

Where do you go for strength to endure?  Do you pour yourself into a hobby or escape into your job?  Do you go into hiding or exile from the church?  Do you retreat into worldly pleasures?  It is those times in life when we feel like chucking our faith that we ought to instead be entrenching ourselves in God’s sovereign will.  It worked for Job and it can work for us as well.

As disciples, we can also follow the example of Christ who “In the days of His flesh offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety” (Heb 5:7).  Jesus’ life was filled with submitting to God for strength to endure through prayer.  Perhaps the most vivid example was in the garden moments before He was betrayed, arrested and abandoned by His own friends and followers.

Jesus tells His disciples in Mark 14:34, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death…”  This is perhaps is most troubled hour.  So Jesus goes on ahead of them and prays.  Just a few verses later in Mark 14:41 He tells His disciples, “It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.” 

What just happened here?  Jesus went from “deeply grieved to the point off death…” to “it is enough, behold…” in one simple prayer?  It seems that as He submitted to His Father in prayer,  Jesus gained a strength of purpose to face and endure the trial before Him.  From this point onward we never see Jesus waiver in His commitment. 

Is it merely coincidence that we’re shown how Jesus prayed in the garden for strength to endure and then we’re told in Hebrews 12:2 that “for the joy set before Him [Jesus] endured the cross”?  Is it also mere coincidence that Paul admonishes us to, “Rejoice always; [while we] pray without ceasing” in 1Theselonians 5:16, 17; or again in Philippians 4:6 where Paul instructs, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”?  How often is prayer a method of last resorts when we are looking to gain endurance?

If we lack endurance, it may be because we have the wrong attitude about suffering (as we saw last month).  It may be that we are struggling in our dedication to God’s sovereign will, or we’re simply neglecting to pray.  As Christians, we need to be a people who continually draw near and submit to God for strength to endure the trials of life.  We can do this by keeping God’s will supreme in our lives by obedience and by “drawing near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Next month we’ll look at the third of four possible ways we can begin to cultivate endurance in our lives when we need it most.  I hope these thoughts are helpful in your faithful service of our king!

Brian S. Lombardi