Hebrews 10.36 encourages, you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised.
Endurance is one of those qualities we admire in others but struggle to manifest in ourselves. We see the marathon runner and we marvel at their endurance then say they are crazy to train then run that kind of distance. We hear the testimony from the mountain climber and wonder what it would be like to stand on the top of the world only to hear of the cost and dismiss it as too hard.
Endurance is modeled by the few but desired by the many.
Perhaps this is why God said few are on the road that leads to life but many are on the road leading to destruction. While we have marketed Christianity as a ‘one-time’ purchase, it is taught in the Bible as requiring a lifetime of perseverance. We try to get people to make a decision, pray a certain prayer and then assure them they will go to heaven when they die never teaching them to give the rest of their lives to obeying everything Jesus has commanded us.
The book of revelation warns us of such a false narrative when the Lord Jesus turns upon His infant churches and commands them all to persevere otherwise they will miss the eternal reward they hoped to receive when they started calling Him God and Savior. The cross Jesus demands His followers to carry was to be embraced daily, Luke the physician records in his account of God’s life on earth as man.
Endurance, perseverance, are necessary because daily we battle the three enemies of our soul. The first enemy is God’s enemy who prowls the earth looking for a soul to devour. Through his voice of discouragement and numerous temptations he targets the children of God in order to make them sons of hell with him. God tells us to pray daily that we not fall into temptation but that we would be delivered from the evil one.
Second, we have to endure the rebellion of our fellow man. Some people do terribly evil things to other people. This has been true throughout the history of humanity. The actions of others sometimes leave terrible scars on our hearts and minds. God tells us to pray for them and to forgive them just as He has forgive us our many trespasses against God. God knows it is in forgiving that we receive healing.
Finally, we have our own issues, our own brokenness creates problems for us. Most of our trouble is the result of our own failure to act or the result of poor actions. In either case we are often our own worst enemy. God tells us to pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven for it is in obeying Him that I find the life I so desperately am searching for in all the wrong places.
Faith and trust in God is manifest through obedience to His ways for then I demonstrate that I truly believe He is good and His ways are the wisest. Christianity is not a sprint but a marathon.
The good news is while we are weak He is strong and He will carry us through if we will submit ourselves into His control of our lives.
