Category: perseverance

“God’s not doing this! Don’t you know you are at war?!” My friend, a missionary in Africa, was quite adamant. He had commented on the struggles several of us were going through and I had simply replied, “I hope we’re learning the lessons we’re supposed to learn.” This was not meant to be a summarizing statement on pain and suffering, but it started a fire within my friend. He clearly sees “the war” in the mission field and he wanted me to know we are all in it. “Satan hates you. He hates your Message and he hates your life. He does not just hate missionaries, he hates all who are sold out to the Master.”

I don’t think my friend would argue that we learn much as we go through struggle, but he would say, “That’s not the main point.” Those who have declared that “Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King” have entered a war. Be aware.

“Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from the Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers…” Why did the one who wrote most of the letters in the New Testament encounter such hardship? Was God against him? Of course not… the Lord had chosen him! “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My Name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My Name.”

Jesus was not saying, “This guy has been My enemy, so I’m going to pay him back.” Rather, when He revealed Himself to Saul, He knew everything was going to change. A zealous man, who had been imprisoning Christians, was about to fall in love with Christ. A subject to the kingdom of darkness was about to enter the kingdom of light. A man who had been confused was about to see clearly. And Jesus knew that the same enemy who opposed Him would oppose Paul. Paul was entering a war… in which he would suffer and eventually die. But in the journey, he would find abundant life and true hope. Be encouraged by his words.

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearing.” II Timothy 4:6-8

“Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time – God the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.” I Timothy 6:12-16

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Ephesians 1:18-19

Of the seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia, THE LAST BATTLE is my favorite. Deception… confusion… recognition of the enemy… the last battle… the coming of the King… the end of things as we know it…and the beginning of “the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

I’ve been deceived many times. I’ve been confused. I’ve been in a few battles. How I long to see the King! He says “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” We can’t even imagine how grand it will be!

Anticipation….. “I can’t wait til I turn 16!” “I can’t wait til I graduate!” “I can’t wait til our baby arrives!” “I can’t wait til my kids graduate!”… The Holy Spirit produces a deeper longing: “Look forward to the Day!” “Anticipate His coming!” Jesus says, “Watch!”

Of course, the enemy wants to rob us of this anticipation that brings joy and helps us persevere. The great attack against the cancer patient is hopelessness. Lengthy illness creates despair. When you can’t remember what it was like being healthy, it is hard to anticipate getting better. Whenever “the last battle” comes, I expect such confusion will be at work. The devil will want things so dark that believers forget to anticipate their hope. “Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.” Or as Aslan told the children as He welcomed them to His country: “The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream has ended: this is the morning.”

“Therefore my brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” see I Corinthians 15:50-58

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” Titus 2:11-14

To practice his new method of fishing, Taylor must resist old habits. To follow Jesus, I must also resist old habits. The world’s ways are not the Lord’s ways. We’ve been taught to always strive to be number one. Jesus teaches an opposite path: “He who is least among you all – he is the greatest.”

The Jesus’ method of living opposes the world and challenges the practical. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

Jesus walked this surrendered life claiming full dependence on His Father in Heaven. “By myself I can do nothing…” “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing…” “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.”

So how should I live? Can I resist striving to be number one? Can I deny myself? Can I become the least? Can I come to the place where I realize I am nothing without Christ? Can I obey the Master, even when His direction goes against my common sense or my physical comfort? Can my message be His message? Can my actions be His actions?

Such life only comes from above. Jesus gives us peace when we come to Him, and He patiently teaches us. He puts His burden on us, but it is not heavy. He leads us beside still waters. He restores our souls. He anoints us with His Spirit and puts our enemies to shame. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

This week I celebrate two years of good health. The other night Susan and I reminisced about the journey. In the midst of the storm it is so easy to think, “It’s not worth it!” But once we get to the other side, our feelings change. These two years have been priceless to me… and yet I know there is something even greater. How priceless is God’s unending love for us!

Was it worth it for the Father to offer up His precious Son? Was it worth it for Jesus to suffer as He did? In exchange for a year of difficulty, I have received two years with my family and friends… to work and to play… to laugh and to cry. In exchange for Himself, Jesus gained the wounded, the hopeless, and the lost. In exchange for His Son, the Father gained sons and daughters He is bringing to glory.

In the difficult parts of the journey, we may think, “It’s too hard to follow Jesus! Is this life of faith worth it?” Oh if we could hear the heart of the One who endured more than we can fathom: “Don’t give up! I understand the temptation to quit… it came against Me too… but your soul is priceless! Don’t compromise. Don’t shrink back. Don’t wither in the heat. I tell you, no one who follows Me will be sorry in the end. Your eye has not seen and your mind cannot even imagine the things My Father has prepared for you!”

May God grant us our Savior’s resolve as we run the race marked out for us.

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Luke 9:25

“Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourself flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” Hebrews 12:2-3 (The Message)

“Lord, you want me and my men to do what?” God explained His desire for His people to be set apart. “Are you sure this is the best way? People won’t even be able to tell what we’ve done!” God wanted a covenant in the flesh of a man’s hidden parts, and Abraham obeyed.

Today, God is after something even more personal. Physical circumcision has always pointed toward a more important operation. Jeremiah spoke the Word of the Lord, “Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among the thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts.” Paul points us to Christ, knowing the One with the pure heart is the One who knows what to cut away. “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ…”

It has always been the strategy of the enemy to depict the men of God as weak and passionless. Who would call Abraham weak and passionless? His obedience did not make him less of a man… quite the opposite! We are to have this same type of faith that trusts a God who knows how to make a man more of a man and a woman more of a woman. “Pure in heart” does not equate with weakness. “You want me to do what? Yes, Lord, I will obey. You know what is best. Give me courage, Lord, to stand. Cut away anything that keeps me from being the man you have created me to be. Make me a true man, Jesus. Make me like You.”

When Jesus has His way in a man or a woman, courage springs forth. We know this because Jesus is the epitome of courage. “Father, are you sure you want me to do this? Is there no other way? Yes Lord, I will obey. You know what is best and I have come to do your will. Give me courage, Father, to carry this cross.”

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” I Peter 2:21