Endurance

I look around and think people have all got something that they are dealing with. And yesterday in conversation I heard the word endurance casually mentioned and it struck me that each of us everyday has to endure whatever the day brings us. Many are blessed with light struggles while other seem to be bombarded on every front with blazing arrows coming at them faster than they are able to dodge.

They are some of you who are enduring health problems, or a addiction, or a tough family situation, or having to endure a broken heart caused by grief, or a saddened set of issues with a child or loved one. Or maybe especially at the tax season you are having to endure financial hardships. Life just seems overwhelming and just trying to keep up is endurance enough. Whatever it is, we are encouraged to carry on in hope. But that hope is sometimes hard to find when you are in the blazing inferno of fiery trials. It is the hope that somehow helps us to gain the momentum to endure the hardships, to endure to discomfort, to endure the trials but in order for that hope to be effective, we have to solicit it, and realize the effect that endurance is having on us. It is making us strong. It is tapping into an inner strength that we so many times we didn't even know we had. A strength that God has placed within our hearts and souls that manifests hope and an ability to see things from a heavenly perspective of a big picture rather than from a earthly picture that is very limited

Sure we wear out and become discouraged at times, but then we have to assess the circumstance and realize that God does not ever give us more than we can handle and he also equips us with his tools of hope, strength, courage and wisdom to stay afloat in the midst of a crisis, be it a long term one or a short term one. Whether we realize it or not, in every situation that has been allowed in our lives, God is working in us to grow us and build us according to his purposes.

1 Thessalonians 1:3
We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 11:1
[ Faith in Action ] Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Endurance is the ability to stay with a project regardless of how many times we get discouraged and want to throw in the towel. Endurance is hanging with all our might because we believe with all our heart that the something that is before us is a worthy venture. If we didn't believe it or were not morally assigned to it, the hope would not float (reminds me of a was a movie title), and the strength would lose its grip and we would bow out due to
apathy and disconcert.

Romans 15:4- 5 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
My point here is this...as we endure the trials that are worthy...may we endure them with the hope that God is working with us and in us through these tough times. He knows the weariness of our hearts, the exhaustion of our bodies and the overload of our minds. When we find ourselves on overload we just need to step away and regroup in Christ. Be still and know that God is God. Give back to Christ that which we have taken on once again by ourselves.
Let him carry our burdens so that we can accept his freedom to find joy and peace in the midst of our struggles. There is rest for the weary...but sometimes we have to fight for it...and the battle is finding the silence to come gently to the feet of our Lord and ask him to once again refill us with his strength and his hope. And remind us that we are so loved for just who we are and that he sees the efforts that we are putting forth in worthy deed and his hand of blessing with ultimately be on our efforts as they falls in line with his purposes. May he bless us with his love, strengthen us with his might, calm us with his spirit and give us peace through his word.

Dear Lord, help us to endure through the trials that you allowed in grace and patience and hope. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . His glory will shine through!