In Need of Endurance
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Hebrews 10:35-38
Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised. "For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him."
Well. . . I believe I posted a devotion recently entitled “Fitting God In.” I apparently need to do a better job of following my own advice! Yesterday I was distracted with car/transportation issues. We have a vehicle that is about to give up the ghost and so we are attempting to transport all three of us with one car as much as possible! It’s been a challenge, but not impossible, we have discovered. Actually, the tightwad in me is trying to figure out how we could arrange our lives so we could actually survive with only one car! My best friend, who is so good at tactfully redirecting people when they veer off track, would interject at this point, “But that’s another story.”
And it is. The “story” today is about endurance. It’s about doing what needs to be done, even when we don’t feel like it. Even when it “gets in the way” of the other things we want/need to do. Even when it hurts. It’s odd that this scripture should have been in my in-box this morning—okay it’s not odd! My walking buddy and I were discussing this morning how challenging it was for us to stay focused on the “other things” we have to do in our lives when we really want to do the fun things – the enjoyable activities of the moment. For her – it’s school; for me, it’s work. We both just want to do other things! We agreed this morning that we would both view the “have to’s” as a means to an end.
Still, I’m avoiding the main point, aren’t I? Because it’s difficult to admit how often and how readily I fail to live up to my commitment to God. The commitment to post devotions is not between me and you, the reader. It is between me and God. He has put the idea in my head and in my heart; He waits for me each morning to meet with Him and rest in him. He leads me as I sit and begin to type. And yet, I let “life” get in the way of Him. That’s where the endurance comes in. Endurance means that even after we feel like we can’t go on any longer on our own, we keep going. Because God’s strength will sustain and uphold us. It means that even when life gets hectic, placing God first and foremost allows everything else to follow in the proper order.
For yet a little while, Christ will come again. And He’s not going to tell me to hurry up and get that last devotion posted – because it will be thelast – it’s time to go! He’s not going to accept my self-centered excuses for not faithfully doing His Father’s will. He never faltered, so I am to endure. He lived by faith, so I am to believe. He was righteous, so I am to obey. It’s one of those things that is so simple, and yet so difficult. Endure all things through Christ our Savior. Put God first and everything else will fall into place.
My prayer today is that you refuse to let life get in the way of your relationship with God. And that you endure until the faithful one comes again.
Mary
