God of Endurance
I love the way the Bible calls our Lord Jesus “the God of endurance.”
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and in Romans Chapter 15, verse 5, Paul calls our Savior, “the God of endurance.” Now let me tell you, if you are tired of living with chronic pain; or if you are weary from the burdens in your life; if you feel like throwing in the towel because the hardships never seem to end, this title for God – the God of all endurance – gets right down to the nitty-gritty of where you need to put your hope. Your hope is not in your willingness or your ability to endure, but your hope is in God’s willingness and ability to endure. Your hope of hanging in there rests in God’s unshakable, enduring commitment to never turn away from His work of grace in your life. As a child of God, you are in intimate communion with the One who will endure to the end, no matter what.
Now, as someone who has lived in a wheelchair for a long, long time, I need to remember that. Especially when I feel “that’s it, where do I go to resign from all this; I mean this wheelchair is just too hard, too much; I can’t do this anymore.” You could say the same, and you don’t even have to be in a wheelchair. You’ve got your own day-in and day-out challenges that have you wanting to throw in the towel every now and then, right? So, when you and I hit the wall, we’ve got to remember that we are joined to the One who will never turn away from his work of grace in our lives, because our endurance will be erratic and hit-or-miss, at best. There will be times when you will get discouraged, when you will willingly rebel. And you’re going to forget all about grace.
In your heart of hearts, you want to endure; you’ll want to persevere, but your hope of enduring is not to be found in your character or your strength of resolve. No, your hope of enduring is only found in your Lord’s endurance. Jesus will ever be faithful, so you can bank on the fact that he will give you what you need to be faithful, too. Jesus will always endure, so you can rest in the assurance that he will give you what you need to endure, as well. How do you put this into practice? Well, the other day I was at my desk at Joni and Friends, I had to lie down – for the second time that day – to adjust my corset (I wear this stiff support garment around my middle that helps me breathe and prevents scoliosis). Well, I was so tired of the pain, like you, I lamented ‘I can’t do this; I don’t want to do this.’ But then in the next breath, I recounted to God, “Lord, you promised you will carry to completion that which you’ve begun in me. And right now, I need your endurance. I need you to miraculously help me persevere. And I want to thank you because I know you are good on your word.” Now, did the pain automatically stop when I sat back up in my wheelchair? No, it hadn’t, but I found I could endure, I could persevere, all because I was leaning hard on the God of all endurance.
And I want to help you do the same by sending you a gift straight from my heart. It’s called “Pain and Providence” and I wrote it to remind you of where your hope of enduring comes from. Just contact me today at joniandfriends.org/radio and ask for your free copy. Again, it’s called “Pain and Providence.” Remember, your perseverance rests on Jesus; when hardships expose the weakness of your resolve, and the limits of your strength, don’t panic, because He will endure even in those moments when you don’t feel able to do so yourself. And that is a wonderful promise from your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ himself. Oh, and thanks for listening today and again don’t forget joniandfriends.org/radio.
© Joni and Friends
