Sunday May 21, 2023

I Think I Can. I Think I Can…

The Bible is a textbook on “I think I can”… or better, perseverance. From Adam and Eve to the Apostle John on the island of Patmos, enduring life’s hardships is the hallmark of a life with God. In the scriptures, perseverance is demonstrated…it is bemoaned…it is encouraged…and it is blessed. James tells us that it even brings rewards.

We are a strong people, born with a pioneer spirit and a dogged endurance. We are ready to tackle each and every day with life and vigor. Nothing will detour us from the destiny of our days! Do you feel like that? Yeah, neither do I.

Now there are some days when I feel I could overtake the gates of hell, but they aren’t the norm. Most days, it’s a flat-out struggle to make it through. Perseverance…even the word itself brings shudders of trepidation and caution. Red flags go up when someone tells us to simply push through. But what we really want is out, not through. And therein lies the problem.

The word perseverance means “to stay under, to bear, to have fortitude, to patiently suffer (ouch!), to cheerfully endure.” It is not that we enjoy trouble and tribulation…it is that we have joy through tribulation. Hebrews tells us that we should fix our eyes on “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross” (Heb.12:2 NKJV). He certainly did not enjoy the cross, but persevered for the joy of the cross and the joy of what it would bring.

So why persevere? Because through it we bear fruit (Lk.8:15) and have a firm hope (Rom.15:4). It leads to eternal life (Rom.2:5-7) as it produces godliness within us.

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope (Rom.5:3-4 NKJV)

We are actually commanded to pursue perseverance. We seem to genuinely have a desire to pursue lovely things like peace, love, faith, gentleness, and even righteousness. But pursue perseverance? We tend to shy away from that. But in God’s eyes, the pursuit of all good and right things is equally important. (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of gentleness)

But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, gentleness. (1 Tim.6:11 NASB)

Take a deep breath…we are not left alone in this. We have divine help. We persevere in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit! As Jesus is our example of victory in perseverance, so must we be an example for others.

That the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance;…that they admonish the young…” (Titus 2:2, 4 NASB).

We need to keep going, believing we can persevere so others can too.

< Back to all posts

Dive Deeper

Related Scripture

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him

— James 1:12 NKJV

Word Wisdom

gentleness
Greek "praotes" (prah-ot-ace) Strong’s #4236

A disposition that is even-tempered, tranquil, balanced in spirit, unpretentious and that has the passions under control. The word is best translated “meekness,” not as an indication of weakness, but of power and strength under control. The person who possesses this quality pardons injuries, corrects faults, and rules his own spirit well.

So...

Sometimes in a museum you see one of the old prairie schooners on which the pioneers crossed the continent. If they had stopped to contrast each day the distance they had traveled with the vast stretches of the continent before them, they would never have reached their goal. But day by day the oxen plodded on; night by night the wagons were halted, the cattle watered, and the fires lighted. Thus, by going on, day by day, they crossed plains and mountains and reached the lands on the Pacific. It is not doing something brilliant or striking that wins you the victory and brings you to the journey’s end, but keeping everlastingly at it, sailing on from port to port, island to island, this day and then the next day. The ministers of the old time used to ask in their prayers that we might be granted an “honorable through-bearing.” A fine phrase that, signifying perseverance up to the very end.