In a world of instant coffee, instant tea, and ready cooked meals prepared to be reheated in the microwave In a world where a touch of a button puts us in touch with folks across the world, instantly, and where the press of another switch shows us events as they happen on the other side of the world In a world which ever increasingly demands ‘Now – this instant – I want it now, not in ten minutes’ ..it’s like an alien tongue to speak of such things as perseverance, and patience and steadfastness. They take far too long, and we’re in too much of a hurry. Yet perseverance is an essential building block in anything humans can achieve.And with it goes long suffering, and endurance, or as we put it sometimes ’stickability’: the power to see it through.
Paul says that “The fruits of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22.
No fruit appears instantly. It must grow. You can have the most superb musical instrument money can buy, be it a grand piano, a guitar, or even a Stradivarius violin, but if it’s to be of any use to you, you must have the diligence to practice, and usually that can be a long hard slog, not only for you but for those who are within earshot! Even the world’s most gifted virtuosi practise each day for hours.
One of the original Bible words translated as ‘patience’ is the Greek word ‘HypomonË’, which is not a passive word, but a powerful expression of courage when under fire or affliction. You don’t lie back and let the waves crash over you, you meet them head on and rise up through them. That’s HypomonË. Another bible word is ‘Makrothumia’ – long suffering, which means guts, and is the opposite of self-pity, faint-heartedness and laziness. It’s the power to see it through. It is a Christ-like quality, a Jesus virtue, essential to all Christians, especially Christian leaders. Without it all Christians droop and drop.
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:12
No wonder in Hebrews 12:1, when running in the Christian Olympics, we are “to run with perseverance the race marked out for us”.
A Prayer:
Grant us, O God our strength and stay, the staying power which, having taken up our cross, to follow Jesus, walk with him all the way to Golgotha, rejecting as satanic all calls to take the rest we have earned and the subtle suggestion that dropping out is an honourable option.
Now read John 16:19-33.