Category: perseverance

From Psalm 37: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him…” The doctor added a new drug to the chemo I am taking and it is not much fun. Blurry mind, aching bones, and sleepless nights have become the norm. The word I keep hearing is: “Wait on the Lord.” I talked to a close friend who is not unfamiliar with suffering: “I think I am waiting on the Lord, but what am I waiting for?” My friend’s answer holds a joyful truth: “Waiting on the Lord means… having the Lord, Himself. That is what we all really want.”

Of course I argue that I really want something else: less pain, a clear mind, a good night’s sleep… But an all-loving Father says, “Taste and see that I am good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Me.” I recently ran across this poem by Russell Kelfer:

WAIT

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and wept for a clue to my fate…
And the Master so gently said, “Wait.”

“Wait? You say wait?” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is Your hand shortened? Or have You not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming Your Word.

“My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and You tell me to ‘Wait?’
I’m needing a ‘yes,’ a go-ahead sign.
Or even a ‘no,’ to which I’ll resign.

“You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
I’m weary of asking! I need a reply.”

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied again, “Wait.”
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, “So I’m waiting… for what?”

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine…
And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

“I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You’d have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.
You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint.
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.

“You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair.
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there.
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

“You’d never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and save, for a start,
But you’d not know the depth of the love of My heart.

“The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

“You’d never know should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if I lost what I’m doing in you.

“So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know Me.
And though oft’ My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, ‘Wait.’”

“I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Psalm 40:1-2

“You are being invited to be a part of the team going to Namibia this spring. Before tickets are purchased, I want to share some important things about the trip. My intent will not be to discourage, but I must be very honest about ‘counting the cost.’” I recently wrote these words to a group of high school students who signed up for a mission trip to Africa.

Coaches give similar communication before a season. “If you’re going to be a part of this team you need to know the commitment required. You’ll have to practice three hours every day we don’t have games. You’ll have to do everything I demand as a coach. There will be times you won’t like me too much because I’m going to push you beyond the point you think you can go. I want you to be on this team, but you must count the cost.”

It is not a ‘loveless’ Jesus who gives ‘hard’ words about following him. An ‘honest’ Jesus tells every potential disciple to count the cost. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me… I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross cannot follow me.”

So why do people sign up for a grueling trip to the other side of the world? Many have heard stories from kids that have gone before. Most will decide the hardships are worth it. Some will say, “This is not about me… it is about serving others and being an instrument of God’s love.” Or why does an athlete decide to join the team? Most realize that anything worth doing is going to involve sacrifice. Many dream of a championship at the end of a season. Some love a coach so much they would do anything to be a part.

The reasons for following Jesus go a little deeper. First, Jesus reminds us, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” He is King… and we’ve been bought with a price. But perhaps some of the thoughts above apply. Most of us are inspired by some who have gone before. A ‘cloud of witnesses’ testifies that any hardship or sacrifice is worth it. We all surely realize this life is not just about ‘me.’ The hope of a final victory is more than a dream for the believer… it is a promise from God. And we all should love our Savior so much we would do anything to be called his disciple. Let the Master’s words sink deep…

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.” Matt 16:25-27

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Matt 19:29-30

“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Jn 15:14-15

The message at the funeral I attended last week did not bring back the dead or dry all tears, but it did speak a hopeful truth. These words from Paul’s sermon in Athens were read: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:26-28

The Newsboys sing this acknowledgment and prayer:

You are the Author of knowledge… You can redeem what’s been done.
You hold the present and all that is to come.
Lord, I don’t know where all this is going… Or how it all works out.
Lead me to peace that is past understanding… A peace beyond all doubt.
You are the God of tomorrow… turning darkness to dawn.
Lifting the hopeless with hope to go on.
Oh, Lord, You are the Author… redeeming what’s been done.
You hold us in the present… and all that is to come.

Despite all we do not know, there is one thing for certain: God wants people to find him. God put us all in our place in history in the location we live with a great intent: “… so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out and find him.” The psalmist wrote, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Those that taste him hunger and thirst for more. He is not far away… and he wants to be tasted.

The person that tastes the Lord is changed… priorities shift and a new passion arises. The person that finds the Father wants to know him more and no mountain or ocean or valley can stand in the way. If possessions are a hindrance, he’ll get rid of them. If knowledge has puffed him up, he will become a fool. If a cross must be carried, he will pick it up every day. The way to the Father is through the Son and Jesus calls a disciple to a life of total abandon. “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:8-11)

Paul was one who tasted God and he could not shrink back from an all-consuming quest. What else matters? Nothing… but to be found in Christ! In him there is righteousness… a righteousness not of our own. In him there is holiness… without holiness, we cannot see God. In him there is peace… the peace that passes all understanding. In our time and in our location, may we press on.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14

When the King of Kings comes into your life things aren’t always easy. It wasn’t for Mary. Besides the normal struggles of pregnancy, she had to put up with gossip, accusation, and quite a bit of uncertainty. Joseph, a good man, became her advocate and protector. It is good to have an advocate, but no man could control the timing of the birth that would change history. I don’t think my wife, Susan, ever rode a donkey while pregnant, but she often told me how hard it was to get in and out of a car. We’ve visited the place many think Jesus was born. It is a far cry from Northside Hospital, but we still sing of the joy that came to the world as a baby was born in a stable.

The angels sang, “Peace on earth,” but when Christ came into the world, a dragon raised his ugly head. Thankfully God is in control and He is far more powerful than any man or devil. “An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up’, he said, ‘take the child and his mother to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’”

I don’t know that things are too much different today. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but the Lamb is also a Lion. When He is given free reign in a heart, He expels those things that don’t belong. Sometimes He turns our world upside down. “Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written’, he said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.’” Of course, any temporary discomfort is well worth it as our bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit. “Have your way, Lord” is the prayer of all who love Him for we are chosen to be holy and blameless in His sight.

The surprise may come as we let Jesus shine out of our lives to the world around us. Surely Mary must have wondered why her baby was the target of evil plans. Thirty-three years later she witnessed the murder of her son. “Why, God? If He is the hope of the world, why is He hated? If He is the only sinless man ever to live, why do so many want to kill Him? If He can bring peace, why do the nations rage?”

We know there is a war because there is an enemy. Jesus is the hope for all today, but He is still hated. As the day of His return grows nearer, the enemy works harder and harder to quench all that points to the Savior. Ask my son the fisherman and he’ll tell you the battle is most intense closest to the boat… right at the end of the fight. So don’t be surprised if you sense the activity of the evil one. If you are vocal about the gospel, he’ll want you quiet. If you know your purpose in life, he’ll want to distract or confuse you. If you are sold out for Christ, he’ll tempt you to compromise. Jesus warned of life’s worries, riches, and pleasures that choke those who start to follow Him. Doubt, discouragement, and fear are other weapons in the devil’s arsenal. Who is unaware of Satan’s aggressive quest for the hearts and minds of young people today? He whispers, “There is no truth. There is no right and wrong. Just do as you please.” Paul’s words are for us all: “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

In other lands, the enemy is not as subtle. Many have lost their freedom and some have lost their lives for sharing Christ with those around them. I just received a newsletter from a friend who serves the persecuted church in the Middle East. He shared the story of Mohan, a Pakistani brick maker, who refused to quit distributing Christian literature to his Muslim neighbors. One day he was attacked by two men and viciously beaten. His life was saved as people heard his cry for help, but his left arm had to be amputated just below the shoulder. He was asked how this attack affected him. Mohan’s answer inspires disciples and infuriates the one who hates Jesus and all who love Him. “I have lost one arm, but even if a situation was created to cut off my other body parts I am ready for that. I will carry on with my work even if I will be killed. To build the Lord’s kingdom is the mission of my life.”

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” Romans 1:16-17

Susan looked at me on Sunday and whispered, “That message was for you.” We’ve probably all had a spouse or loved one tell us to perk up because God is telling us something, but it is a bit strange when the lesson is coming from your own child. As Taylor shared about his trip, I realized that God had taught our son some valuable truths in Cambodia. Everyone enjoyed hearing about the orphans the missionaries served and the Buddhists that were interested in hearing about Jesus. But Taylor said the main thing God kept showing him was that he had to persevere.

“I was so sick four days that I could not even get out of bed. All I could do was read my Bible and I kept running across these verses that told me to persevere. I also saw that we should rejoice in hard times. I can’t explain I it, but I had peace even though I felt horrible.”

Right now, I’m in the middle of shots that are to bring stem cells from my bone marrow into my blood stream. This drug makes my bones ache and the days ahead don’t look any better. Monday they will begin to check my blood to see if enough stem cells are present. When the count is good they will insert a double-line catheter into an artery in my neck and begin collection. Basically my blood goes out one line into a machine that captures the stem cells then the blood is sent back into my body through the other line. Five years ago it took three days to get enough stem cells for a transplant. I guess we’ll see what happens this week.

I’ve read all the Scriptures Taylor shared on Sunday. I’ve often written and talked about perseverance and the peace of God. Taylor has heard me teach many of these things over the past few years. But I realized Sunday that his message was not just a repeat of things he had been taught. He spoke with a type of certainty because he had embraced God’s Word and God had shown him that what He says is true. We know that what God says is true, but there are times we must embrace His Word and say, “OK Lord, this is for me. I accept it.” This past week I talked to many people who are suffering. Some trials are so intense I don’t see how they go on. But I know there is a peace that surpasses anything the world can understand. This peace can guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I pray God will give us the grace to persevere and I pray His joy will be our strength.

“We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:4

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7