Perseverance

Ever wonder how the slower animals reached Noah’s ark? (Gen. 6.20)

It’s easy to imagine how cheetahs, horses, or various birds would have swiftly arrived at the ark, but what about the snails, tortoises, or sloths? Unless they hitched rides on swifter animals (a comical scene to be sure), were collected by Noah’s family, or were divinely transported to the Ark, their journey likely took quite a long time!

In our Christian walk we sometimes feel more like snails than stallions. The journey of faith seems to be lengthening rather than shortening and the path becomes like those famously traveled by our elders on journeys to and from school (Let the reader understand). There are times where we are “soaring like eagles, on wings of flight”, and others where we are “Toiling on, toiling on, toiling on, toiling on…". As we “wander through the valley dim” we tend to forget why we committed to such a quest in the first place, we allow our focus to be drawn away from the goal, and we allow the weight of the journey in its entirety to crush any hope of reaching the “ark”.

It is in these seasons of life when perseverance must be brought to bear. It was Spurgeon who once said, “By perseverance the snail reached the ark.” Perseverance, the fifth of a list of “Christian graces” given in 2 Peter 1.5-7, is translated from the Greek [hypomonen], which means “to remain under”, or to bear up under the weight of challenges. Thayer defined it as “the characteristics of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith & piety by even the greatest trials and suffering[1]”.

Here are three things we can do when the “way groweth drear” and our perseverance begins to wane:

1. Remember Your “Why”

One does not persevere when the motive to do so is lost. Imagine starting a road trip and then forgetting why you left. Would you keep going? I hope not! Notice that prior to Peter’s call to persevere in 2 Peter 1.6, Peter describes God as having given us in Jesus “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (v.3), “His precious and very great promises” (v.4), the right to become “partakers of the divine nature” (v.4), and rescue from “the corruption that is in the world” (v.4). Prior to charging his readers to continue in their faith Peter reminds them of the exceedingly precious gifts they have been given in Christ, empowering their perseverance with reasons to do so.

This concept of remembering our “Why” should run throughout our walk with Christ. As we draw our first conscious breath each morning, we can remember that it is God who breathed life into us (Gen. 2.7), making each subsequent breath a gift from Him to be used for His glory. We choose perseverance in seasons of difficulty because “the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5.8), and we desire to be among those “who have faith and preserve their souls” (Heb. 10.39). Even our weekly participation in the Lord’s supper motivates perseverance by reminding us of why we began our journey: Christ died for us! (Luke 22.19; 1 Cor. 11.24-25). When we remember our “why” we are empowered to keep moving forward.

2. Fix Your Gaze Forward

As those who have taken a wrong turn understand, perseverance is positive only when one is heading in the right direction. If we have “fixed our hope on the living God” (1 Tim. 4.10 NASB), then we must be on guard against losing our focus in a few ways:

• Don’t look down. Looking down while rock climbing is discouraged because one begins thinking about the consequences of failure rather than reaching the goal. As we follow Christ, we will experience persecution (2 Tim. 3.12), hardship, loss, and discouragement. We must remember that we’re not the first to have trouble and take encouragement from those who persevered and triumphed! “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard about the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” (James 5.10-11).
  
• Don’t look back. Sometimes the life we left behind to follow Christ beckons to us, and this can cause our steadfastness to waver. However, Jesus calls us to follow Him and not look back (Luke 9.62). When we were buried with Him in baptism, we committed to putting away “the old self with its practices” (Col. 3.9). One valuable motivation to persevere comes from remembering what would have happened if we had not chosen Christ: “But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.” (Rom. 6.21).
  
• Don’t look to the sides. Perseverance requires a single-minded focus on what is ahead, and an obstinate refusal to turn from that focus, no matter the temptation. Our Adversary understands this and sets about building new attractions and challenges to divert our attention away from faith in Christ or make the weight of faithfulness unbearably heavy. The Psalmist asked God to “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” (119.37). We must learn to ignore the temptations to quit the journey, praying to God for strength, guidance, and relief: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt. 6.13).

3. Take One More Step

In the martial art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (or BJJ), earning a black belt can take upwards of 10 years, if not more. Only 10% of practitioners reach the rank of blue belt (one rank above a beginner), and only 1% of those will reach black belt. Many become despondent at the thought of how long it will take to achieve this goal and quit. The Solution? Attending one practice at a time. Do the right things during each training session. Stop thinking about the entire process and focus entirely on the next step.

Perseverance can crumble under the weight of the “Big Picture”. We sometimes hear “…Be thou faithful unto death…” (Rev. 2.10 KJV) and wonder how we could possibly sustain the strain of faithfulness until then (even though the wait might not be very long: James 4.14). As parents we can balk at the immense task of raising a child to adulthood in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6.4). As we interact with ungodly co-workers or classmates, we can become frustrated at constantly “holding the line” in our beliefs and stances against worldliness. We often think about the lives of faithful men and women of scripture in their totality, and yet forget a simple fact:

• How did Abraham get to Canaan? One sandaled step at a time.
• How did Josiah cleanse Judah of idolatry? One destroyed idol at a time.
• How did Ezra prepare himself to teach God’s law? One line of scripture at a time.
• How did Jesus achieve His mission? One person, one parable, one prayer at a time.
• How did Paul spread the gospel to the gentiles? One choice, one synagogue, one letter at a time.

Simply put, perseverance is the commitment to always do the next right thing, and often it is helpful to narrow our attention on only that next opportunity. The next time you converse with a coworker, do so gracefully with words “seasoned with salt” (Col. 4.6). Make the next decision concerning your child one that will emulate God’s own treatment of you as His child. Plutarch once wrote: “Perseverance is more prevailing than violence, and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves when taken little by little[2].” Perseverance becomes much easier to accomplish when I only must persevere just one more step.

Conclusion

A famous 6th degree black belt in BJJ once said concerning reaching the rank of black belt: “It’s not who’s good, it’s who’s left.” Christianity and faithfulness work in a similar fashion. On the day of judgment, it will not be who is strongest in their knowledge of scripture, or who have done the most good deeds, or who has defended the faith the most times who will stand with Christ. The assembled masses of the faithful will be comprised of God-followers who exhibited perseverance by simply not giving up the fight. Just remember: The sheep, slugs, and salamanders all had their place on the ark. They just had to keep going until they reached the boat!

“Let us then be true and faithful, Trusting, serving every day.
Just once glimpse of Him in glory will the toils of life repay.” (Eliza E. Hewitt, 1898)

[1] THAYER'S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011

[2] Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Sertorius, 16.