Continuing faith connections...
Last week, we had a heart check on "What do you want?" (John 1:38) as it related to seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. Today, it's time for an attitude check on perseverance. What's our attitude on dealing with tough times, struggles, issues, hardships, etc.? We can easily become derailed if we have a vision of what life should look like if we were in charge. We may think we deserve everything to work out in our favor all the time. We may think everything we touch will turn to gold. We may think success falls in line with the world's definition. These perspectives can be setups for failure. Jesus never said following Him would be easy. He never promised success as the world defines it. When times get tough, what will you do? Will you be one who embraces, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going"? Or will you be in the group mentioned in John 6:66, "From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him."?
A brief tour through Hebrews is valuable for our attitude adjustment. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Heb. 12:1). The "therefore" indicates much has already been established up to that point in the text. We will explore some of those elements in this summary. A side point of truth within this verse is the weight of sin and its connection to suffering. The verse does indeed direct us to throw off any sin that is weighing us down and robbing us of the freedom and life Christ offers, but it is important to clarify that suffering isn't necessarily caused by sin. There are consequences to sin, but there are reasons and purposes of suffering that are beyond the simple cause and effect relationship of sin and consequences.
In four examples, at minimum, we see suffering has nothing to do with sin. Job's story is paramount. The Devil had asked permission from God to afflict Job and his family with catastrophe, loss, and suffering. God took that bet, counting on Job's faith to prove His goodness. We find that Job's faith and perseverance silences the Devil's accusations and brings glory to God, proving God to be righteous. We play similar roles in our lives. Note Job's responses. "Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him." (Job 13:15) "Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance." (13:16) He had confidence, trust, belief, and faith in God's goodness. "I know I will be vindicated." (13:18) He knew his suffering wasn't due to his sin. In the end, Job discovered he indeed had no right to complain and that he had spoken of things which he did not understand. God questioned him, "Would you discredit My justice?" (40:8) In other words, "do you believe I am unfair in what I allow in your life or in someone else's? Do you know what I am doing and accomplishing behind the scenes, in the bigger picture?" Job could only reply, "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful to know...My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you." (42:3-5) Seeing is believing? Faith!
Another example is Peter, when he passionately claimed he would surely go to the death for Jesus, if it came down to it. Jesus said Satan had asked for Peter to sift him as wheat, but that Jesus was praying for his faith to remain strong. Sure enough, Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. Another side truth in this story is the inherent warning about what I call passionate sentiment. We should be careful in our passion and zeal, lest our pride set us up for a fall. We are called to have our confidence rooted in Jesus, but we are to walk humbly. Forgiveness is a giant part of the Christian faith. He wouldn't have emphasized its importance if there wasn't such a great demand. We are going to mess up, again and again. Apart from Him, we can do nothing.
Another example is Paul, who was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him from becoming conceited and proud after he had seen inexpressible things in heaven. Some think his condition was a chronic eye disease, causing weeping and oozing, making him to look unimpressive and weak. God stated His grace was sufficient for Paul to accomplish the purposes He assigned him. Paul indeed prayed for healing and deliverance, but then accepted God's answer, and lived with this disease. He accomplished great things in spite of this hindrance. We can successfully run the race God has laid out for us, in spite of our weaknesses.
Our final example in this study was none other than Jesus. Sure, He took on the sin of the world as a part of His suffering, but He was perfect, not ever sinning, and yet He suffered more than any of us ever will. His suffering could not have had anything to do with His sin, because He never sinned. Do we think we deserve a better life than what Jesus walked, knowing that we do sin?
Some great encouragement is outlined in the next Hebrew verse of the text. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Heb.12:2) Surely, we all have problems, some acute and some chronic things that just aren't going away anytime soon. It seems we have to walk through them in dependence of His strength and provision to bring Him glory. The Devil tempts us to focus on our issues as a giant distraction. We are directed to fix our eyes on Jesus, seeking Him first. He will add every provision to us in His timing and allowance. Notice Jesus endured the cross with joy of a greater purpose in mind. What an attitude! Also notice the reward at the end of persevering. He sat down at the right hand of God, having won and purchased our salvation with His own blood and life. Thank You, Lord. Let us remember this as we approach Easter. We are encouraged to not grow weary and lose heart, no matter what He allows in His sovereignty. Remember, Satan has to go through God first to get to us. He has to get permission from the One who is greater than himself. We can trust God for what He allows. We can also trust for His provision to get through it, even when it doesn't seem like we are going to make it. This is where faith comes in! "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Heb. 11:1) Sometimes, we have to look back on memories of experiences to help us with current situations. "Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering." (Heb. 10:32) "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a very little while, 'He who is coming will come and not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith; And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.' But we are not of those who shrink back an are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." (Heb. 10:35-39)
I would like to encourage us to have positive attitudes towards suffering. We are called to "endure hardships as discipline" for "God is treating you as sons". (Heb. 12:7) The scripture says to endure hardships as if they were disciplinary actions from God because He loves you and wants to develop His character in you. The hardships aren't due to your sin that requires discipline, but we are to take on the attitude that accepts hardships as corrections from God to purify us, make us holy, impose His righteousness upon our character, and all the while bringing Him glory. He wants us to view hardships, persecutions, and suffering alike, positively, as if they are accomplishing far more than meets the eye. Poor attitudes are causing many believers to shipwreck their faith and turn away from following Jesus. Unsubscribing to the world's measures of success and our preconceived notions of what life should look like would go a long way on our behalf. We have to let go of these ideas and accept God's will in our lives. We must be aware of the devastating effects of bitterness, resentment, self-pity, and negativity that come around when things don't work out as we planned. They are almost irreversible cancers that require much more struggle through prayer to overcome. It's much easier to promote , develop, and maintain true faith in our God, taking on His positive attitude towards suffering, and embracing His power to persevere through whatever He would allow in our lives. There is great reward and fulfillment of purpose on the other side, if not in this life, then in the next. Believe it and don't give up following Jesus. Let Your will be done, Lord. I have but a very short time here left. I surrender my life in full trust, believing in Your sovereign plan. Accomplish Your purposes through me. May my life bring You glory.
