Tag Archives: endurance

Opportunity or Threat?

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Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.
James 1:2, NLT*

Do you see troubles as an opportunity?

Maybe I’m still too much of a child inside, but I have the child’s response (mentally) of cowering and shrinking. Of thinking the trouble is too big, and fearing it will overwhelm me. Of seeing a threat.

Another part of me raises my defenses. It’s a win-or-lose struggle, and I can’t afford to lose.

James gives us a much broader perspective. Of course the pain and risk of trouble is great. (In verse 12 he talks about how “God blesses those who patiently endure.”) But he reveals a higher level of stakes.

Trouble isn’t one more bout with a larger danger that will eventually overcome us, as if life is really out to get us.

Trouble is one more opportunity to grow spiritually and to deepen our relationship with the God who loves us. (click to tweet)

It’s not a case of “fight until you can’t get up.” James says trouble tests our faith. To that he adds:

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:3-4, NLT*)

How can we reach a perfect state of needing nothing? By becoming fully reliant on our God, who we’ve discovered is all-sufficient for any trouble that threatens us. Will that happen this side of Heaven? Maybe not, but we can grow toward it.

God who loves us and redeems us, please open us to see opportunity where our natural selves see only threats. Help us to allow the troubles in our lives to help develop our endurance. Give us the faith to trust You, so we can experience Your all-sufficient care for us.

∞

We have another Matt Maher song this week, because it fits perfectly: “Everything is Grace.”

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Pain and Endurance

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We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.
Romans 5:3, NLT*

Most people’s natural reaction to problems and trials is a plea to get us out of there. We don’t like pain, and it’s often a signal of danger (think about touching a hot stove, or feeling symptoms of a health problem).

In a fallen world, pain is inevitable. Nobody wants it, but God can use even this. Let’s not waste it.

Today’s verse can remind us to invite God to work in our problems and to “help us develop endurance.” It shifts our focus from the trouble itself to God. Not that it diminishes the pain, but it restores perspective. We’re not alone. The God of the universe is with us. He cares for us, and He is our best and only hope.

Instead of slipping into self-defense mode, can we learn to ask what will God do here? Can we look for His help in anticipation and trust instead of watching fearfully for disaster?

The Message actually uses the words “alert expectancy” as we look “for whatever God will do next.” (Romans 5:3-5, MSG) That’s a challenge I can’t live up to, most days. But I want to.

God our Strength and our Shield, when You let us go through trials, help us remember that You are there with us. Help us keep our eyes on You. Teach us to look in alert expectancy for “whatever You will do” and to remember that however huge the crisis, You can give us what we need to endure it.

∞

When I looked for an “endurance” song, I couldn’t get this one out of my head, so perhaps God wants to speak to someone through it… it’s definitely a good prayer for each of us: Matt Maher‘s “A Future Not My Own.” (See the background to the lyrics.)

 

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Faith, Patience, Love and Endurance

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But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance.
2 Timothy 3:10, NLT*

I don’t know about you, but when I think of the Apostle Paul, patience and love aren’t top of my list of descriptions. I mean no disrespect to this ambassador for Christ—he’s a hero of the faith. But he sounds like he was a hard fellow to live and work with.

Faith? His was more than intellectual belief. He lived it, and died for it.

Endurance? He suffered frequent persecution and abuse for his faith. One of my favourite Paul stories is when he and Silas were in prison in Philippi, singing praises to God in the middle of the night. [Acts 16:16-40]

Paul definitely knew “the secret of living [and being content] in every situation.”

Perhaps this is where his patience appeared: in endurance and in persisting in relying on God. And his love wasn’t the soft, huggy kind, but his letters reveal a passionate commitment to the well-being and growth of Christians everywhere. He thanks God for them, he prays for them, and he fights for them.

Sovereign God, You were with Paul and You are with us today. Let us learn from Paul’s example. Help us to remember and rely on Your presence and power. Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief in those times when we don’t anchor to You. Help us choose to praise You no matter what, and to keep our eyes on You instead of on the problems.

∞

Let Matt Redman‘s “Blessed Be Your Name” remind us how to live.

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.