Perseverance

Recently I have read through the books of Amos and Isaiah and Jeremiah, and I have been so struck by their faithfulness to the Lord in the midst of a culture that defiantly rejected the Lord and turned with enthusiasm to idolatry. All of these prophets were misunderstood and abused and persecuted. Every one of God's faithful prophets experienced such rejection and persecution; many were martyred; all knew what it was to be lonely and hated and mocked. Most were poor or seemingly inconsequential--none would have been featured on the covers of magazines for their successful careers or stunning good looks or powerful popularity.

Yet despite the hardship and suffering and loneliness, they kept on giving out God's Word, in season and out of season. They persevered... even when they desperately wanted to quit. From where does such strength of character and faithfulness come? If I had to pick out things that develops our perseverance they would be: having an eternal perspective; focusing upon Christ; and developing godly daily habits.

An eternal perspective teaches us that time is so short and eternity is so long. I'll never forget Peter praying shortly before his birthday last year: "Lord, help the days before my birthday to be very fast but help my birthday to be very long." We can get so engrossed in this life, in all that we have to do, in all our worries and work, that we forget this life is incredibly short. This world is passing away and our lives truly are a breath! It helps to remind ourselves when we get all worked up and upset over something, to ask ourselves, "Will this matter in 50 years? Will this be important in 100 years?" If not, maybe we need to calm down and take it to Jesus and let Him worry about it! O how I love Ps. 90:12 "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Teach us, Lord, to remember the brevity of this life and then to focus upon that which will last forever and ever.

But secondly, I think those prophets, and all who develop godly perseverance, have learned the secret of Heb. 12:2-3: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith... Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." You know, I really think this is the secret to the Christian life (and to joy and to perseverance)--fixing our eyes on Jesus, considering Him--daily, hourly, consistently throughout our days. When we fix our eyes on Him, we are changed increasingly into His likeness. When we consider Him, we cannot help but worship Him and be filled with joy and gratitude.

And thirdly, we need to establish godly habits. Habits of reading His Word daily, no matter what. Habits of taking thoughts of irritation or anger or discouragement and surrendering them moment by moment to Him. Habits of speaking words of encouragement and love and not words of bitterness or frustration or gossip. Habits of choosing to fix our eyes upon Him and not upon the world. Habits of focusing upon the eternal and not the temporal.

You know, habits are so habitual! Rarely do we set out to create a habit. It just happens one small choice, one small decision at a time. No alcoholic ever sets out to become addicted to alcohol. Rarely does a person decide they want to go out and have an affair. No, these things just "happen" one tiny choice at a time. Each little decision seems inconsequential, but it leads to the next and then the next and suddenly a habit is formed, for good or for ill. I loved this statement from Nancy Leigh Demoss: "Every act, every choice, sows a seed. And it will reap a harvest. The challenging thing is that the harvest isn't usually immediate.... You are what you have been becoming. You are today the sum total of what you have been becoming. And you will be down the road what you are becoming now."

That's all to say, we need to start today to become the person we pray we would be at the end of our lives as we face eternity. We get easily intimidated when we think we have to be a spiritual giant by the day after tomorrow, so we just throw up our hands and give up. But it's a matter of starting daily by making that small choice to put God first. Make the little decision not to give in to your emotions and instead ask God to enable you to respond in love. Make that tiny choice to read His Word rather than flip through that magazine. We can establish those habits of godliness one tiny little choice at a time, and before we know it, God establishes in us godly perseverance and faithfulness. And for all those wrong choices that have created bad habits--hit the reset button! Confess, repent and by God's grace start over again, one choice at a time.

Eternal perspective. Focus on Christ. Godly habits. Help us Lord... today, one choice at a time. And to You be the glory.