Perseverance is more than endurance. It's endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.
If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified.
Have you ever gone through that time in your life where you're just worn out - tired - weary - torn? You know you'll get through it. You trust in God's promises, but your soul is crying for in its burden. You long for the time when this heaviness is lifted.
Be still. God knows what he's doing. I know you know that, but think on it often. Get on your knees and talk about it with God. Let him know that you realize that you're being refined in His perfect fire and that you're excited about the change you expect when you emerge from it.
3 comments:
Thanks Luke. I can't even begin to describe how that passage hits me...
"You know you'll get through it."
Not to be overly heavy, but I must testify that there were times when I wondered just what God was doing. I thought I'd never walk again, and I thought that I needed to walk (notice all the I's). Therefore I didn't know how I'd get through life.
Talk about spiritual ignorance. God was and is in complete control, and the fact of the matter is, our state on this earth is more temporary than our mind can fathom, we're simply here to do Kingdom work, and that can happen whether you're walking or not.
Justin: You're welcome bro. I say a resounding amen to your last paragraph especially.
Amen Bro
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