Perseverance

The one characteristic, among many, that marks believers is their ability to endure all things. This we see not only from Jesus, but from God the Father. We can say that impatience is of the devil, while patience/perseverance is of God:

Exodus 34:6

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth...

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

The more we exude perseverance as one of our qualities, the more God is seen in and through us. Sadly though, over the years, believers have been reflecting more and more impatience, more than even unbelievers. They have been quick to give up on God and salvation, quit the moment trouble strikes, be unwilling to wait on God, and so on. Today I want us to focus on this very important virtue, and see how we can develop our patience and perseverance, as children of God.

As believers, no matter the upbringing or environment one grew up in, the moment we received Christ we all received perseverance/patience/longsuffering, as a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). Whenever you hear of the fruit of the Spirit, picture the emotional characteristics of Jesus. This is Who He was and is: full of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Since we are called “Christians”, meaning “Christ-Like”, we ought to reflect Him in all areas of our lives, manifesting love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. The fruit of the Spirit that the Holy Spirit placed in us is the ability to continually act, talk and live like Christ, reflecting Him 24/7.

When believers fail to reflect Christ and are asked why, they say they cannot be able to do so. This is indirectly denying the power of Christ working in them, and the fruit of the Spirit within us. Once we acknowledge and believe that we have the ability to walk, live and talk like Christ, then we will be able to reflect Him fully. It starts with us acknowledging every good thing in us:

Philemon 6

…that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

One of these good things that are in us is longsuffering/patience/perseverance. We have the ability to withstand everything and anything that comes our way, while still manifesting all the other fruit: love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. We ought to be manifesting all the fruit evenly, not one at a time. This is why it is called “fruit” of the Spirit, not “fruits”. The more we meditate on who we are in Christ, and see ourselves as He sees us, the more we are able to manifest the fruit of the Spirit, evenly. It calls for us to let go of our excuses, and seeing ourselves in light of our upbringing, personality, and so on. Once we are in Christ, the old is gone, and we become new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17), full of the emotional characteristics of Christ, and the ability to live life as He lived it. As He is, so are we, in this world (1 Jn. 4:17).

As long as we keep seeing ourselves in light of who we have always been, we will never reflect Christ. Again, when some believers are asked why they are impatient, or lack perseverance, they say, “I have always been an impatient person,” or “Perseverance/patience has never been my strengths,” and so on. This is a person who needs to renew their minds and understand that every believer has the ability to withstand everything that comes their way, just like Jesus did. Jesus persevered so many things, not just the cross. Humbling Himself as a man and coming in the likeness of men, being born in a manger, the lowest possible birth-form ever, without even a mid-wife to help, then waiting patiently for 30 years before starting ministry, is the highest form of perseverance ever. Can you imagine if you were God, coming to earth, and by the age of 12 you have started gaining an audience with the leaders of the children of Israel, challenging them in the temple? (Lk. 2:46-47). If it were me, I would have been greatly tempted to start my ministry then. If He was too young, why not start the ministry at 18? He was an adult then. Or 21? 25? Why wait till 30?

It was the purpose of God for Him to start ministry at 30, for Him to keep growing in wisdom, strength in spirit, renewing His soul to His true identity (Lk. 2:40,52). I believe that He was also showing us patience/perseverance. Today, God will appear to people, and tell them what they will be or have in the future through a prophecy, basically reveal His purpose to them. I can guarantee you that many people will start getting impatient, and with every year that passes start doubting if they really heard from God. Others will try to make it happen themselves.

Jesus knew His purpose and what He was supposed to do, from before He even came to earth. All the 30 years He spent on earth before starting ministry, He did not attempt to even perform a single miracle or start ministry, until it was God’s timing. Picture Joseph; God showed him what he was to be at a tender age, of 17 years. Many things came His way, from persecution from his brothers, being sold as a slave, being a slave in an Egyptian house, being accused of adultery, being imprisoned, then 13 years later finally the dream comes true. Going back to Abraham, when God first told him that he would get a son, it is said that he was 75 years old. When exactly did he get the son? When he was 100 years old. This is 25 years later. Fast forward to David; he was anointed as king at the age of 17. Even after killing Goliath, his destiny did not immediately kick off. He had to spend 13 years running away from King Saul and his army, spending long nights in caves and in the wilderness, and finally  when he was 30 he became the king of Israel and Judah (2 Sam. 5:4).

I could go on and on, with examples of guys like Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Hosea, the disciples of Jesus, Paul and so on. What did all these people have in common? They had the promises of God from childhood, either from God Himself directly, or from their parents, and so on. They held on to the Word and promises of God, and no matter what came their way, they did not take their eyes off what God had told them. Talking about the patriarchs of faith, the author of the book of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 11:13

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

What did they have faith in? In God’s Word, and His promises, which even when dying had not received them all. After going through a long list of how these patriarchs of faith persevered and overcame, the author of the book of Hebrews says:

Hebrews 11:32-39

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:  ³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented-- ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. ³⁹ And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise.

It is also said of Abraham, through the 25 years of waiting for a son:

Romans 4:18-22

…[Abraham], contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be." ¹⁹ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. ²⁰ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. ²² And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness."

What kept Abraham and all the other patriarchs of faith going is the promise of God, and their faith in His faithfulness. Consider this interesting fact: none of these had longsuffering as a fruit of the Spirit. We may admire them and say they may have had it better than us, but the bottom line is, we are better off because we have their experiences to learn from (they didn’t have a Bible), have the Spirit of God residing in us forever to give us the strength to move on (the Spirit was poured on men after Jesus died and resurrected – Acts 1:4, 2:1-4), have all the fruit of the Spirit that helps us to reflect Christ, and so on. No believer today has any excuse for not having endurance/patience/perseverance.

As the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:11, all these things that were written in the OT were written for us to learn from. We should hold on to the promises of God, and have faith in His faithfulness, if at all we are to walk in endurance and receive the manifestation of His promises. Without perseverance, we cannot receive the promises of God:

Hebrews 10:36

For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise…

To be continued...

-- Sam Gitonga 

Sunday Service Sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry. 

Brother Sam is the Youth Leader at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.