Rev. Richard Smith
James 1:2 “Blessed is the person who remains steadfast under trial…”
One of the Bible’s most inviting insights is the call to persevere amidst life’s trials and challenges. The majority of characters profiled in Holy Scripture had experiences which called for emotional and spiritual resilience; spiritual and emotional perseverance. Unquestionably, you and I are living in a time when one must, with God’s help, stand tall and strong while storms rage; a pandemic, increasing urban unrest, civil and political division; economic uncertainties; political mistrust, etc. We are truly challenged to persevere in faith and hope.
Perseverance Begins with Patience
Patience is an absolutely essential quality if you and I are going to stand strong when the storms of life rage. We have to be patient with life. We have to be patient with God and why He does things. We have to be patient with his timetable. If one doesn’t muster some patience amidst difficulty, one will never persevere!
Perseverance Is Grounded In Confidence In God
Even though we have to be patient with God’s divine activity in the midst of real trials, we, in the end, need to have confidence that God is at work and will continue to be at work. One of my favorite scripture passages is Psalm 27:13-14:
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
That is the confidence you and I should have; that we will see God’s hand at work in the living of our days and in the challenges we face.
There are four things we can and should believe about the nature of God:
God listens. There is no such thing as an unheard prayer; no such thing as a prayer God doesn’t hear.
God responds. Now again, God doesn’t promise to respond the way we want or expect Him to respond or on our timetable, but He will always respond.
God brings good. God’s response, whatever it is and whenever it comes, is always good for us. His good is always better than our good.
God sustains. While we wait; while we continue to pray; while we practice patience, God sustains us. He sustains us even before He answers us.
Ultimately, It’s About Faith
Now, none of us ae so spiritually rock-solid that we will never have moments of questioning, of some doubt perhaps; but deep down we do seek to muster that trust which doesn’t fail to give God his due.
This is faith; a keen trust that rises up even as we may struggle a bit with that which we’re facing.
No one can prove what we claim by faith…that God is with us working for good; that tragic circumstances can be redeemed by God; that when all is said and done, God will have the last word and that word will be one of promise and possibility.
We claim faith because, again, we have confidence in God and we have known his divine help in times past.
As We Persevere, We Become Witnesses Of Hope
Again, while none of us will always exude absolute faith and trust, we can, for the most part, be vessels of confidence and hope for others to hear and see.
As we find strength in God and his responses to us, we should desire, as best we can, to help others have the same trust. We may be fractured human beings who have our own good days and bad days, but we, again, can model what it means to persevere in hope!
You know as well as I do that everyday we encounter people who are struggling to stand strong and who need some assurance that there is a RESOURCE for doing so. With humility, we can share our story, our faith, and give them then a reason to seek God’s help; God’s sustaining power.
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