Perseverance in Your Faith

We are pilgrims, much like Christian and Christina in The Pilgrim’s Progress, making our way from our own Egypt to our heavenly reward. The Apostle Paul said to the Philippians: “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:20-21). Likewise, we desire to represent Christ in our daily walk so that we have nothing to be ashamed of. But beyond that, Paul wanted to exalt Christ—that was his primary goal in life. In fact, if he could be with Christ all the time, he would choose that:

Philippians 1:22-25 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!  I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,

We, too, living in this broken world, would like the Apostle to choose to go home to our heavenly reward, but that is not God’s will for us. So, like Paul, we choose to live for others—to bring them joy and to see them grow in their faith. To bring joy to someone is very gratifying, but to bring the joy of the Gospel is exhilarating.

What does it take to persevere in the face of hardships and not lose our joy? It requires that we keep our focus on Christ, who is the prize. That is what these words from Paul mean. We can’t allow discouragement to stop us. We can’t allow hurts to fester and bring resentment or anger. Then what do we do? How do we keep going? We persevere! We keep on going! We hang on to His Word! We hide it in our hearts! We ask him to comfort us and send relief through the Holy Spirit. When we ask, he hears and responds. He is mindful of our struggles. We must turn to Him and not away from Him.

 

Acknowledge God

Sometimes, we find ourselves weighed down by problems that seem completely overwhelming and unsolvable. It is in these moments that we need God’s help, whether we realize it or not. However, it is important to examine our lives and honestly ask ourselves, is any of this problem happening because I have rebelled against God? What is it that I am refusing to address? Why am I so angry and resentful? Why will I not forgive? Why does fear control my life? These questions have to be answered.

We must ask ourselves, “Am I here because I have ignored the principles of His Word?” If the answer is yes, then we need to acknowledge our sin of disobedience and ask God to forgive us. God requires that we be honest with him. He won’t force us because he has given us free will to choose our response, whether it pleases or disappoints him. However, if we confess our sin and acknowledge our need for God, He will respond. Hosea says it like this:

Hosea 6:3 "Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."

What a wonderful illustration of God’s goodness, just as the needed rain waters the thirsty earth, so God’s grace waters our souls. The very thing we long for is God. Like the prophet Jonah, we may have run from God, but now we turn to him. Then He appears. Jeremiah says something similar:

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

We can never find God until we seek him with all our hearts, because he won’t allow it. But when we put all our heart and soul into the search, he lets us find him. That is good news for the weary soul who is longing for something more—that something is God!