Keep going
Endure. Persevere. Be steadfast. Hold fast. Be patient. Different ways of saying the same thing—a thing we have a really tough time doing.
Some things are hard in the moment—they can be very hard indeed. But holding on for a long time may be the hardest thing.
Our bodies wear out. If you are too young to have experienced this firsthand, take a look at your grandparents. As time goes on, all of us get weaker, slower, less capable.
The same can happen emotionally and spiritually. We have been in expectation of our Lord’s return most of our lives, and he has not appeared. The wait can wear on us.
Hence the repeated exhortations in scripture, saying it in different ways. God is hoping (I believe) to get our attention, and hold our attention. He knows it’s hard for us, so He keeps saying it.
The one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22, repeated in 24:13)
By your endurance you will gain your lives. (Luke 21:19)
[Barnabas] exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. (Acts 11:23)
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)
Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
If we endure, we will also reign with him. (2 Timothy 2:12)
[That] we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:18)
But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:25)
Something to note: it’s not supposed to be an arduous slog—it’s actually supposed to be joyful!
[Paul prays that we] being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy… (Colossians 1:11)
And something else. It’s good for us to have to endure:
We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope… (Romans 5:3-4)
I could quote many more passages. These points are positively hammered on.
Since we have such a hard time with the steadfast enduring, I encourage a more extensive study, on your own or with others, with an intention to let it really soak in deep. In your favorite Bible program or online tool, search on these terms, enabling “partial match”: endur, hold fast, steadfast, persever, patien. If you’re not able to do partial matching, you’ll have to search on the possible variations—such as endure, endures, endurance and so on. The same can be done with a paper concordance; it just takes a bit longer. You should end up with over a hundred passages in the New Testament. Not all are directed toward us, but a LOT of them are.
I think my reaction to all this should be, “God seems to consider this really important. I’d better work on it.” Rather than complaining, wallowing, surrendering, evading—which are my natural inclinations.
My body is wearing out, and that is simply inevitable. It is not inevitable that I wear out spiritually. The passages we’re looking at here are essentially Jesus, Paul, James, Peter, the Hebrews writer and more, all standing on the sidelines cheering me on, to keep going. How amazing is that?
And it’s something we can do for each other too.
Love, Paul