Things that we must do that God will not do – 4. Perseverance

Yesterday I came off the phone having listened to a man who has completely turned his personal life around through self-control. He has self-mastered himself. No longer is he being pushed around by every attacking thought and temptation rather he has disciplined his body. But coupled with this self-control is the perseverance/endurance to stay the course. This perseverance is not just to put up with things but it is actively and daily resisting one way of life for a better way. It is this trait of endurance that makes it into Peter’s list.

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance.” (2 Peter 1 v 5-6)

Mark 13: 13 “Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” The Message “Stay with it—that’s what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry; you’ll be saved.”

Sunday 22^nd January 2017 I stood with a married couple with 2 small children for a photograph. This was their farewell from the church as they were being sent as church planters to an area where there was absolutely no Christian witness. It was for me a most poignant moment for I knew the struggle that they would face. I was in the region of the world where the Church is continually persecuted. Christians carried injuries to their bodies because they were Christ followers. I was told of how their houses got burnt down, their children set upon and their entire family despised as worthless. I asked the question, “What happens when it all gets too much?” The answer that came shocked me. “We stay.”

You may enter your day struggling to get through it. You face internal pressures from external circumstances that are causing you to wonder if you will ever be free. Physical problems, loneliness, financial instability, loss of work and broken relationships are making you feel like you are swimming against the tide. Let the persecuted Christians help you today. They have found something that is priceless. If we do what they do then we will be saved in our circumstance. They have discovered perseverance/endurance and have added it to their self-control.