Tag: endurance

Hebrews 12:3-13

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Perseverance is important to God.  It is important enough to him that he disciplines us for our own good so that we can endure for a lifetime of being faithful to Jesus Christ.  Our response to the disciplining work of God depends upon how we look at it.  If we view discipline as a dirty word to be avoided at any cost, then any time there is trouble or difficulty, we are going to spend our efforts trying to wriggle away like an earthworm to a flashlight.  But if we discern that discipline comes from God as a gracious means of developing perseverance within us, we will patiently endure the circumstance knowing that God is doing an important work in us.  We can submit to God and look forward to the righteous fruit that he will produce in us; or, we can buck our adverse situation and refuse to learn from it.
 
            Even Jesus himself endured hostility, trouble, and eventually death despite the fact that he did nothing to deserve such treatment.  We are not above our Master.  Just as he suffered, so we will, as well.  The real question is:  What will we do when we face painful difficulty?  God loves us enough to not leave us alone but is active in allowing us to endure hardship as discipline so that our faith will grow and develop.  This is a healthy thing, and not a thing to avoid.
 
            We are to consider Jesus, his attitude and way of life, so that we ourselves will not grow weary and fainthearted.  We are to lift our drooping hands and strengthen our feeble knees and find fresh inspiration to keep going through looking squarely at Jesus, our faithful example.  Whether our painful trial is a very real physical disability, a relationship problem that is constantly on-going, or an emotional situation that seems to maintain a constant vice-grip on your head and heart, there is a God in heaven who sees it all and desires to bend each and every adverse circumstance for use in developing your faith and bringing you closer to him.  Allow God to do the expert work that he alone is suited to do.
            Gracious God, I believe that you discipline me for my good.  Help me to not grow weary when you bring adversity into my life.  Instead, strengthen me as I submit to your will for me through Jesus Christ my Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

John 15:18-25

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Jesus suffered as a man on this earth.  He was persecuted.  He was hated.  He was killed.  Although we readily recognize these facts as believers, somehow we still seem surprised when we follow Jesus that there are people who downright dislike us.  Jesus clearly said, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”  Emotional, psychological, verbal, and even physical abuse can and does occur against God’s people who seek to walk in the ways of Jesus.  There was a time in the first few centuries of the church that becoming a martyr for one’s faith was welcomed as living into the imitation of Jesus Christ.  Even many modern day martyrs for Jesus around the globe have counted it a privilege to suffer as Jesus did.
 
            This all sounds quite strange to Westerners who tend toward the notion that if we do everything with excellence and effectiveness that there will be no reason to be persecuted or to suffer.  But the reality is that Jesus promised that in following him, there will be those who seethe with hatred toward us.  We are not above our Master.  If he suffered, we will, as well.
 
            Thomas a Kempis, writing over five-hundred years ago to clergy students, captured the essence of Jesus when he said:  “Sometimes it is to our advantage to endure misfortunes and adversities, for they make us enter into our inner selves and acknowledge that we are in a place of exile and that we ought not to rely on anything in this world.  And sometimes it is good for us to suffer contradictions and know that there are those who think ill and badly of us, even though we do our best and act with every good intention.  Such occasions are aids in keeping us humble and shield us from pride.  When people ridicule and belittle us, we should turn to God, who sees our innermost thoughts, and seek his judgment.”
            Almighty God, thank you for sending your Son, the Lord Jesus, on my behalf.  Just as he suffered for me, I willingly suffer for him, since his infinite grace has delivered me from sin, death, and hell.  I only ask to be found faithful at the end of the age when he returns to judge the living and the dead.  Amen.

Hebrews 12:1-3

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising its shame.”  Our Lord experienced the ultimate in suffering and shame; the cross was painful physically, mentally, and spiritually.  It was awful.  Yet, there was joy set before him.  This does not mean Jesus relished in the pain; rather, he clearly understood what his suffering would accomplish: the saving of many lives.
 
            Trying to make sense of this great sacrifice on our behalf can be mind-blowing.  No earthly illustration or word-picture can begin to adequately capture the idea.  However, perhaps what we can understand is undergoing the necessary discipline, effort, and pain in order to accomplish a goal.  Back in the day, I was a cross country runner (back far enough for Sherman to set the way-back machine).  When I was running I would sometimes get that super nasty pain in my side while running.  It is called a side cramp, or side stitch.  If you have never experienced it, the pain feels like an intense stabbing, as if someone were taking a knife and twisting it inside you.  There is really only one thing to do when this occurs:  keep running through the pain and it will subside in a few minutes; to stop running only exacerbates and prolongs the hurt, not to mention losing if it occurs during a race.
 
            Jesus faced the cross knowing that he was going to experience terrible excruciating pain.  He also knew that not facing the shame of it all and avoiding the agony would only make things worse and not take care of the problem.  Jesus endured all the foulness and degradation of the cross for you and me.  The pain was worth it to him.  He did not circumvent it, but embraced it so that the result would be people’s deliverance from sin, death, and hell.  The end game of his redemptive work was joy over deposing the ruler of this dark world.
 
            Suffering often does not fit into our equation of the Christian life; but it should.  Since Jesus bled and died for us, it is our privilege to follow him along the way of suffering.  Holy Week is a time to reflect and remember on such a great sacrifice, and to consider our Christian lives in the face of such great love.
            Gracious Lord Jesus, I give you eternal thanks for your mercy toward me through the cross.  It is a small thing for me to follow you even it means great suffering on my part.  My life is yours.  Use it as you will, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.