Sometimes it’s hard not to give up, but the Bible offers hope to all Christians in all times. Early believers endured intense, prolonged persecution which the Apostle Paul calls “momentary, light affliction” (2 Corinthians 4:17). How can Paul dismiss such agony? He says a few verses earlier, “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” (verses 8-10). These afflictions neither seem light nor momentary, except when compared to the heavy, permanent outcomes for which Paul was willing to sacrifice himself. It was a battle of life and death, ephemeral verses eternal. Paul keeps this foremost in his mind, and we should, too.
What did Paul suffer in comparison with his contemporaries? More. Seven chapters later in 2 Corinthians, Paul shares some details (11:23-28):
… in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.
Paul experienced an excruciating array of physical and mental hardships. In the continuing verses of 17-18, he reveals why: “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” The key to a Christian not losing heart in this fierce worldly but temporary battle is to take heart because of the glorious spiritual and eternal benefits we are winning.
While writing this, I faced a perseverance crisis. My husband and I’ve worked hard for more than forty years, during most of which I’ve looked forward to his retirement because I thought our labors would ease. He retired two years ago. I still can’t keep up with my duties, spend enough time with him and our children or write as I’d like. Also, the physical aspects of my work are increasingly harder to perform.
I faced a similar crisis decades ago when my father died. Each day seemed daunting and dark. I was a young, exhausted new mother. As I’ve written in a previous post, “The Gratitude Attitude,” a friend advised me to keep a thankfulness journal. My first entries were ludicrously brief but gradually longer and more productive. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1:8 also renewed my courage: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life”. In the continuing verses 9-10, Paul states why he suffered and how he came through it: “indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope.” God saves us from suffering and, remarkably, through it, teaching us not to trust in ourselves, but in Him. God alone can deliver us, even from ourselves. He is the sole basis of our hope and our perseverance. Or should be.
Hebrews weaves Old and New Testament truths into one, offering great hope in our struggles. It’s a difficult and sobering book but also contains unique truths critical to hopeful perseverance. Hebrews 6:11-12 says, “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Hope is an integral part of perseverance, our joy in the journey which lightens life’s labor.
Along with patient waiting, God’s promises are also a great part of hopeful perseverance. The next verses of Hebrews tell us that God guaranteed the promise of His eternal covenant to bless and multiply Abraham by swearing by Himself, since there is no one greater. Verse 15 says, “And so, having patiently waited, he [Abraham] obtained the promise.” Good for Abraham, but good for us too, because Hebrews 6:18 says, “so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie [God Himself and His oath], we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.” So that we may not fail to grasp the significance of this powerful hope, the writer continues, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us” (verses 19-20).
God’s hope anchors our soul. It’s sure and steadfast, breaking the barrier between Him and us through what Jesus did with His death to secure our place in the covenant. Jesus was our forerunner, “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Chapter 12 of Hebrews encourages us to look at human forerunners as well. Like them, we need to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (verses 1-2). Jesus created and perfects our faith. By fixing our eyes on Jesus, we, like Him, can run our race with endurance and joy.
In our family devotions a while back, my husband read from Luke, including Jesus’ parable on prayer in Chapter 18. Verse 1 says, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart”. Those words went straight to my own heart. Instead of hopeful praying, I’d been hopelessly complaining, something I’ve been known to do.
As an undergraduate college student, I’d call a list of friends and vent. It usually took about ten calls before I felt better. After a traumatic story too long for this post, I avoided disaster but fell ill. All my friends were in class, so I couldn’t complain to them about it. A guy I knew from Bible study had graduated. We were hardly on speaking terms, but having no one else to turn to, I reluctantly called him. He offered surprising sympathy and comfort. Soon we met regularly and discussed Scripture together. I said I wanted a NASB Bible like his. He said he knew where to get one and a few weeks later presented me with a big, new leather study Bible, encouraging me to read the gilt off its pages. Unwilling to accept such an expensive gift, I insisted on paying him back. Our dates became serious. His name climbed up my list until he was the first.
A few years into our marriage I heard someone speak on unrealistic love. They said it wasn’t fair to put on a spouse what only God could carry. I learned to apply 1 Peter 5:7: “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” I no longer expect my husband to carry what only God can. It’s been so freeing for us both. I never painstakingly try to explain things to God like my friends and husband because He perfectly understands the situation better than I do. Plus, He can do something about it! I not only read the gold off the pages of my study Bible but wore it clean through and now have another one from my husband. I taught our children to pray their way through problems because Scripture taught me that God knows, cares and can fix anything. I’ve told them that when He doesn’t fix things the way we want, it’s because God has three answers to prayer: “yes,” “no” and “I have a better idea.”
The times God acts contrary to our expectations, He has a better idea, so we should keep praying and not lose heart. We should cast our cares on Him because He perfectly cares and perfectly fixes everything because God is perfect. He perfectly understands and will perfectly act, so we can perfectly trust and rest in Him as our refuge. Isaiah 26:3 says, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.” The next verse implores, “Trust in the Lord forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.” He is the everlasting, incomparable gift we can only accept and never think of paying back. He is our Rock, our Redeemer, the only One who can keep us in perfect peace. In Psalm 56:3-4, David writes, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?”
Mere man can do nothing compared to God. A Christian faces nothing that God cannot overcome. I love the last chapters of Isaiah and turn to them for comfort instead of my phone or my husband, praying down and reveling in the many blessings and promises. In Chapter 54:10-17, Isaiah writes:
“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
Says the LORD who has compassion on you.“O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,
And your gates of crystal,
And your entire wall of precious stones.All your sons will be taught of the Lord;
And the well-being of your sons will be great.In righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
And from terror, for it will not come near you.If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.
Whoever assails you will fall because of you.Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals
And brings out a weapon for its work;
And I have created the destroyer to ruin.No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.
Christ-followers need to remember their heritage as servants of the LORD. God loves and cares for us. No weapon formed against us will prosper. Every tongue, including our own, that accuses us in judgment we will condemn.
My latest perseverance crisis has passed. I’m prayerfully and hopefully working again because the Bible has helped me realize yet once more that God is our help and heritage. Because of God, and God alone, we will persevere. Let’s rest and trust in Him, praying that our perseverance will also be with hope.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org
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