Enduring vs. Persevering

-


 In our school district, we have two more weeks before Christmas break.


Over the last few weeks, I have found myself telling people that I will be in endurance mode for the remainder of those two weeks. Yesterday, as I looked ahead to a brand new Monday, I found myself thinking about the meaning of the word endurance: the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity.


Does a situation in your life come to mind when you read that definition? 


Most of us have had to endure some kind of difficulty in our lives. Sometimes there’s an end in sight, and often we have no clue if it will ever end. I usually feel pretty good about the fact I can endure a great deal, but I thought about it a little deeper.


We really shouldn’t be living in constant endurance mode. Though we must be able to endure at times, we must be careful it doesn’t keep us in a place where we are stagnant. That’s often what it does to me. Sometimes in order for me to endure, I go numb. I go through the motions of obedience, without stopping to see what God may be teaching me through my pain or difficulties. Sometimes I cease to actively participate in the parts of my journey that are important to my growth. Usually, to experience growth, we’ve got to acknowledge and truly experience the pain or difficulty.


My friend Shelly pointed out that perseverance may be a better word to use and way to live. Perseverance is persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. 


When we persevere, we actively participate in pushing forward and through difficulties we face. We feel the pain, acknowledge the pain, and push through it. To me, perseverance isn’t sitting still, allowing life to just happen to us until it’s over. It’s actively participating in changing the atmosphere around us, by taking hold of the power God has given each one of us through His son.


Today I encourage you to persevere through whatever you are facing today. Partner with your Creator to push through your difficult circumstances as He works within you.  He is for you.



“That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:29‬


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Complexity of Prayer

-
Image
Have you ever considered the complexity of prayer? Have you ever had something you needed to pray about, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to talk to God about whatever the issue was? I have experienced that many times. I will call it “Prayer paralysis.” Prayer paralysis happens when you are afraid of any answer God might give you. If He says no, then you might feel bad, or sad, or even angry. If He says yes, then your fear factor increases because you just don’t think you can handle what a “Yes” entails (which essentially means that you don’t trust Him). So instead of revealing your lack of trust (Like seriously, you don’t think He knows? ), you just don’t pray. It’s kind of like when you were a little kid, and you would sit still and close your eyes, thinking that it would make you invisible. God already knows our fears of failure, self-pride, and even our trust issues, so we might as well just go ahead and lay it all at His feet. There’s another kind of prayer paralysis that I ha
Read more

Should Someone Call an Exorcist?

-
Image
Last Friday I went bowling with some of my family. I am aware of my low skill level, so I remained humble throughout the first game, and surprisingly finished in 1st place!  The second game began and I just knew I would dominate even more. I may not have been quite as humble. I was last on the list to go. I stood up and approached my ball with confidence. I picked it up, set my eye on the center arrow painted on the lane, then took a few quick steps forward just as I had before.  As I took my last step, I swung my arm backward, then forward, and fell flat on my face. Actually, flat is not entirely accurate. I’m pretty sure every one of my limbs flew in a different direction, and the position of my head may have had folks wondering if they should call an exorcist. I also seemed to be temporarily blinded from the fall but could hear my ball bouncing its way down the lane. Let’s pause for a moment of prayer. The problem was that I had stepped over the foul line into the lane— 1. Not reali
Read more

Go Deeper

-
Image
  Anyone struggling with anxiety? I have struggled with it quite a bit. Then, I realize that forgetting to bring all of my anxiety-inducing problems to God, is a big part of the problem. Yesterday I talked about living in endurance mode. Part of that is taking all of the difficult things, and trying to wait them out.  If I really think about it, I may have subconsciously believed that struggling is just part of the journey and that I need to suck it up, because Jesus went through way more than I ever will.    But, “ Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28)  He never intended for us to hold onto them. Sometimes we don’t bother saying anything to God because, well, He knows what’s happening. He can change it if He wants to. So we sit paralyzed—enduring! Is that familiar to anyone? Though He could whisk our struggles away at any time, part of the journey, part of our relationship with the Creator is rooted in commu
Read more