June 23, 1998
My impatience shows up in many half-finished craft projects. Sometimes I excuse them by claiming boredom. If I am honest, I must admit I move from one thing to another because the current one is taking too long to finish. For me, persevering to the end is often a challenge.
Patience and its twin, perseverance, form the crown of virtue and maturity. If a person can persevere under all pressures and temptations to quit, they are mature and able to overcome great challenges. John Wesley, a famous Methodist preacher, was a patient man. Consider this page from his diary:
- Sunday morning, May 5, preached in St. Ann’s, was asked not to come back anymore.
- Sunday p.m., May 5, preached at St. John’s, deacons said, “Get out and stay out.”
- Sunday a.m., May 12, preached at St. Jude’s, can’t go back there either.
- Sunday p.m., May 12, preached at St. George’s, kicked out again.
- Sunday a.m., May 19, preached at St. somebody else’s, deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return.
- Sunday p.m., May 19, preached on the street, kicked off the street.
- Sunday a.m., May 26, preached in meadow, chased out of meadow because a bull was turned loose during the services.
- Sunday a.m., June 2, preached out at the edge of town, kicked off the highway.
- Sunday p.m., June 2, afternoon, preached in a pasture, 10,000 people came to hear me.
Wesley’s patience paid off. He decided that anything worthwhile was worth waiting for, even worth enduring opposition and setbacks. The difficulties did not stop him but seemed to affirm that his goal was worth pursuing.
Our generation is not like that. We have instant breakfasts, fast food lunches, heat-and-serve dinners, no-iron clothes, jump-to-the-pump service. Television, with problems solved in 30-60 minutes, makes us impatient with our own problems. In our minds, all challenges should be quickly and neatly wrapped up in, at most, a day or two.
The problem with quick solutions is that we miss an important step in the development of our character. Trials make us patient.
James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, put it this way, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Perhaps most people do not see a trial as a test of their faith. However, all challenges, particularly difficult ones, are opportunities to trust God. Easy problems do not test our resources to the limit. Tough situations bring us to the end of our abilities and, hopefully, to God.
Faith in God means trusting Him to supply whatever we need to make it through our tough situation. First, we may need wisdom. For that James said, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all. . . .”
During trials, faith also keeps us from bailing out or running away. Instead of turning to drugs, booze or other numbing “solutions,” faith keeps us from despair. By faith, we know that God hears our cry for help and His help is on the way.
Faith also knows that God uses all things, even trials, for our good, to make us more like Christ. Part of being like Christ is being patient, being able to persevere, to finish what we start.
Hmm. Now where did I leave that half-finished cross stitch?
August 6, 1996
Dave Barry called it the “Tiny Women Athletes About the Size Of A Toothbrush Flagrantly Defying Gravity Event.” This is women’s gymnastics. Last week, a team of seven from the United States won a gold medal because one of their team did something either very brave or very stupid.
The American team score was close to that of the Russian team, so close that if the final U.S. athlete did not do well on the vault, they would lose. She had two tries. Her score would be based on the best of the two. Up to that point, two of her teammates fell at the end of their vaults. The American win depended on this one little gymnast.
Her first attempt shocked the announcers. She also landed wrong but injured her foot in the process. After a brief discussion with her coach, she went on and made a near-perfect vault. Then she shifted her weight to one leg and collapsed in pain.
The next day, a caller on a talk show said the whole thing was foolish. This young woman put the future health of her body in jeopardy. Her coach should not have told her to go ahead.
Others did not see it that way. This gymnast did not know the scores were so close. For her, it was her turn and the team depended on her to do her best so she did. Her coach carried her to the platform to stand one-legged alongside her teammates and receive her gold medal. She is hailed as a courageous hero, a true representative of the Olympian spirit.
The original Olympic competitions began as early as 700 B.C. and officially ended in AD 394, so were part of the early Christian’s world. Paul used them to illustrate how Christians should live by saying: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”
He added, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last: but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly or fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified...”
Just like the Olympics, the Christian life is not for couch potatoes nor the undisciplined. Following Jesus Christ requires both self-control and training. Our focus is to obey everything He tells us to do and say no to everything else.
Our race also requires we have a clear goal, move steadfastly toward it and know our opponent. It is not God’s intention that we compete against each other but that each of us concentrates on being like Jesus. Against us are three very powerful forces: the world (all that is against Christ), the flesh (our own sinful tendencies) and the devil (who wants us to fail).
Olympians compete with others, but most of them focus on achieving their personal best. Each is determined to remain calm, whether they lose or win, fail or succeed. They listen to their coaches and persevere toward the finish line. Christians also must determine to reach the goal, listening to our Coach and persevering until we reach our reward.
That final American vault demonstrated the ability to keep going under great pressure. The gymnast’s ankle may never be the same but her strength of character ought to be envied by all, especially Christians. She supported her team, did her part without whining or even hesitating, and earned the prize.
Although we do not earn our salvation like an Olympian earns a medal, we do strive for eternal rewards. Therefore, we must put aside whatever trips us up and run our race with courage and perseverance.
(June 6, 1990)
Exams are over for university and college students, just coming up for school children. Young people anxiously wonder, “Will I pass?” And then there are those tests where passing is secondary; the poor student just wants to get through the exam!
We don’t need to be in school to experience tough tests: a child is sick for weeks and weeks, unemployment hits and keeps on hitting, the car doesn’t nickle and dime any more, now it’s into fifties and hundreds. At those times, we just want to get through the trial and go on to more enjoyable things.
Most of us do not look forward to those kind of exams. In fact, we do whatever we can to avoid “writing” them. However, God offers His children a certain character trait that makes it possible to not only get through the test, but do so with a passing grade! What we need, aside from good study habits, is PERSEVERANCE.
The word means “to remain under”; that is, “don’t bail out, do what can be done, and even if the nothing seems to work out, hang in there. Continue to obey God and trust Him, no matter what happens.”
“Remaining under” is not a normal response. Most of us, if we don’t run from a problem, quickly take it to God, begging Him to “fix” it. In fact, in the beginning of my Christian life, I thought if my faith was right, God would bring every trial swiftly to a happy ending and I would not have to endure difficult situations. I thought comfort would surely come, or peace, or a person would be saved or a life would change. I was so sure of God. He would never do me harm, nothing would ever hurt.
Then life dealt some blows. My assurance of being comfortable fell apart. I thought I was losing my “faith”... and I was... and it was a good thing! That kind of “faith” is not faith at all but a kind of mental manipulation putting God in the middle of my desires and trusting He would do what I wanted. I had to learn that while God can “kiss it and make it all better,” He doesn’t always.
Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Job didn’t demand happy endings. Neither his faith nor his patient PERSEVERANCE pulled God’s strings. God knew all about his trials and more, and would do the right thing, but not necessarily the most comfortable thing. It takes a long time to learn this.
When tests come, James says to rejoice... each trial will actually produce PERSEVERANCE, the very thing needed to endure that test and whatever other trials may follow. Trials produce PERSEVERANCE by first exposing our genuine desires along with any attitudes and attempts to manipulate God to do what we want. They also show us where our wants conflict with His will. Excessive tests enable us to stop demanding and begin realizing we do not control God by our “faith.” Instead, we learn that God is God. He always does what is right, and He is merely adjusting our concept of right. As that happens, we discover that instead of wanting to run away, we find ourselves ready to hang in there, if for no other reason but to see what He is up to.
Faith that trusts God (no matter what) and endures a situation (no matter what) is a mature faith based on knowing that the pressures of life are important to our spiritual growth. Actually, our pressure-free situation comes later, in heaven. Right now, PERSEVERANCE is far more valuable (and realistic) than our demands for a life without trials.
So as those tests come, we can look beyond the pain to passing the test by a mature, persevering confidence in God. That kind of focus may not always work as a pain killer but it will give us an A+ on the exam.
(January 24, 1990)
Little Danny fell fast asleep on the neighbor’s couch; time to take him home and tuck him in bed. At first his mom tried not to wake him but as she struggled to stuff his little arms and legs in his snowsuit, she realized that without some cooperation, the child would have to face the cold without his coat. He was as limp as an old shoelace.
The next day dad wanted to take the same little fellow for a walk. However, wide-awake Danny kept falling in a pile at the back door every time dad tried to lift him into his snow boots. Danny thought it was funny... until dad lost patience and whacked his behind. After their walk, the same toddler decided he didn’t want to go inside. Again, his little body turned to jelly and he fell in a heap on the sidewalk. Father finally picked him up and carried him into the house.
The Bible (in Acts 4) tells of a beggar who had lain limp for many years. He wasn’t asleep or immobile for the fun of it. His limbs were paralyzed and useless. But one day he got up, stood, walked, even leaped, and was heard praising God.
People gathered to find out what happened. Peter, one of Jesus disciples, was there and told them: “I want it made known... that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, it is by Him that this man stands here before you whole.”
This dramatic physical change illustrates the dramatic spiritual change when Christ comes into a life. He sets sinners free from the destructive power of sin. Christians are no longer immobilized by it; at least we shouldn’t be.
After the man was healed, do you suppose he decided to fall down again, and return to begging? That wouldn’t make sense. Christians ought to have the same smarts. God tells us: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty in which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). In other words, we have the capacity to stand -- so stand... why go limp?
It is hard to believe such a command is necessary. But some of God’s children do go limp. The Bible describes them as being “asleep”— not physically like little Danny, but spiritually, immature and oblivious to vital spiritual realities.
For one thing, being wide awake enables us to cooperate with God in putting on our spiritual “coat.” While Danny’s coat protected him from the physical elements, ours wards off spiritual dangers. This protection is described in Ephesians 6 as “the whole armor of God.” It consists of a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, gospel-of-peace shoes, the helmet of salvation, a shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit. And WE are to stay awake and put it on, not expect Him to stuff us in in spite of ourselves. Obviously, our cooperation is vital.
Failure to stand fast in unity is another way to fall in a pile. Philippians 1:27 says, “... stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” As soon as believers begin fighting one another, knees become weak, faith turns feeble, and would-be warriors becomes wet noodles.
So, what is the remedy? Prayer is important. Knowing the will of God is also important. Even sleepy children can become quite cooperative when they get a picture of the purpose, methods, and ultimate outcome planned by their parents. If we are going to know what our heavenly Parent is up to, we need to be in His Word.
Being prodded by others who are awake helps too. Therefore, “Do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together that we might encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25). Simply put, going to church and getting involved with other Christians is motivation to keep standing.
God has provided the “starch.” We have every reason to stand firm in faith, unity, and resistance to sin. Don’t go limp.
