Perseverance

Ephesians 6:18

To that end keep alert with all perseverance

Perseverance                                                           

1.  Steady and continued action or belief, usually over a long period and especially      despite difficulties or setbacks.

The necessary ingredient to living in this world of in-between is perseverance.

My dad has an oft heralded saying that goes something like this: Life by the yard is hard; life by the inch is a cinch. Now, I’m sure my dad was not the one who originally coined this phrase, nevertheless it was a phrase that I heard often as I grew up.

And though there’s really nothing wrong with this saying at all, I had huge issues with it. To me this phrase always sounded an alarm. It pushed the panic button on my own logic. You see, here’s the problem I had with this saying; I’ve always been a big picture, future oriented, person. I’m the kind of person who is conditioned to living life in the here and now, while allowing the immediate future to influence this present reality. One eye fixed on the cares and concerns of today; while the other eye is set to the future in eager anticipation of what lies just beyond the horizon. And so for me, my dad’s saying used to drive me nuts! And, to be completely transparent, times remain when this is still the case.

Dad had this innate ability to offer this saying whenever he knew I needed it most. Though at the time, embattled in whatever dilemma or difficulty I was currently facing, this was always the last thing I wanted to hear.

           

            School stress, girl woes, job difficulties……

            Later to become marital concerns, financial stress, self-employment, 
            raising children…

            All of it, and so much more……

Never once did I want to measure these difficult times or seasons of my life in inches. Rather I longed for these seasons to be measured in yards, miles even! Whatever! So long as I didn’t have to be patient, or be still despite the troubles. I was over it, whatever it was, long before it ever began! During these times, as I often lamented whatever woe had befallen me with my dad, dad would listen, offer whatever tried and true advice he could, and then say softly and simply: “Now remember son, life by the yard is hard; life by the inch is a cinch.” It used to drive me bonkers!

But, as a young and restless boy, what I failed to understand-the one thing that has since transformed this saying for me- is this. Dad was right! And dad was right because he had enough history behind him to recognize the necessary ingredient to living in this world of in-between was and is perseverance. Moreover, what dad knew about perseverance he longed to teach to his children, and so he implemented a short little phrase to capture this reality; a phrase I can still remember today; in fact, a phrase I have often heard myself use with my own children. (It’s scary how often we sound just like our parents, isn’t it?)

Perseverance- call it whatever you want:

-          Steadfastness                    - Constancy

-          Patience                             - Determination

-          Persistence                        - Stubbornness

-          Stick-to-itiveness              -Or, as Paul says, Pressing On

All of these terms only highlight the one main point- perseverance is the ability to stay the course even when, or especially when, life gets difficult and arduous. Paul says, “This one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14) There can be no better example of a Biblical great than Paul who modeled the necessary ingredient in the Christian life of perseverance. Paul pressed on- persevered- despite prison, shipwreck, torture, false accusations, and so much more, setting an example for us, as Christians, to follow.

As Christians living in this world of in-between, between Redemption Accomplished through the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary and Redemption Realized which is yet to come when Jesus Christ comes again at the second coming, we are called to persevere. Ours is only ever a life measured by difficulty and delay. Sickness, financial turmoil, family misunderstandings, divorce, job loss; not to mention wars and rumors of war, famine, amoral governments, and various and sundry anti-Christian opposition- all of this and so much more continually emphasize our need for perseverance.

And, it is only as we continue to persist, and this perseverance made possible only by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit within the life of the believer, despite all of the in-between world delays and difficulties, that success- eternal life- will be achieved.

This is the beautiful picture John offers us in Revelation 21:1-5:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them;he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.”

This, my friends, is the hope of our perseverance.