Endurance

Posted on April 22, 2014

A word has been on my mind a lot this week; endure. I have been tempted to feel like a failure…and I try not to give up as the pain tears me inside silently as I grow sicker and sicker. I have no memory of what it is like to be healthy, for I’ve been sick for so long this time. But this word has come up so many times in my thoughts for the past few days. Endurance….to endure.

 

Endure:

1. to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo.
2. to continue to exist; last.
3. to support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently.

Matthew 24:13
¹³ But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

 

2 Timothy 2:3
³ Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

 

James 5:11
¹¹ Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

 

Romans 5:1-5
¹ Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
² By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
³ And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
⁴ And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
⁵ And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

 

Where does the patience and the humility that encompasses love, come from? Endurance is one of the most important things that precede the characteristics of one who is strong. Endurance is what drives us to live. For life is worth the cost of enduring the pain that is part of our time here on earth. We can also have measures of endurance. Some are able to run longer than others, some can endure more pain and discomfort. How much hardship can I endure? How much of this internal pain can I handle? I have had to be strong to endure the amount I have though sometimes I fear what additional pain I must go through until I start to heal. But I know that if I have lived with this for eleven years, I can continue on.

Its like a constant whisper that has been in my ear for this past week….endure.  A few very hard things have had terrible timing, almost unbelievable timing. But if I can’t endure this, I cannot gain strength for the things ahead. I cannot gain the tools I need and I will be stunted.            In everything that we go through, we are to gain what we can from our trials…and rejoice for their presence in our lives. For growth is in the valley, not on the mountain. We are not to stay in the valley, we are to endure it and keep going through it until we reach a place of rest; for the Lord will never give us more than we can handle and He is always there to help us along the path. So when you are tempted to give up, or take the easy way out of a situation, think of a runner who is training for a marathon. He/she grits their teeth as they fight the burning in their legs and their lungs screaming at them to stop and rest or to take the easier path. They’re building the endurance it takes to win the race well, to make it to the finish line. I do not wish to be weak so I must endure. We wish to fight the good fight…and so we endure.