6. Pursue Endurance
When Jesus sent His disciples on their first missionary venture, He prepared them for the persecution that would surely come. He did not want them to be naive about the world in which He had called them to share His life:
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16)
What a statement to make to those just entering “the ministry.” Sheep in the midst of wolves! From the world’s perspective they would be so vulnerable, so open to destruction. Because this is true, Jesus said, “Be as shrewd as snakes.” Keep your eyes open; be aware of what is happening around you. At the same time, “Be as innocent as doves.” Do not intentionally incur the wrath of those around you. Be careful not to give the world a fleshly reason to persecute you. Persecution will come as the darkness of this world reacts to the light of Christ, whom they represent. It is His presence with them that will be sufficient for all they need in this process. Then Jesus gives them a stern warning:
…you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22)
Jesus told His disciples that they would be surrounded by people who would hate them because they hated Him but that they must endure in all of this, even to the very end.
Endurance is one of the most important character qualities God builds into us. The ability to persevere, to continue walking in the face of great trials, powerful temptations, and painful circumstances is what marks men and women of God. So many others “bail out” at the first sign of difficulty.
DISCIPLINE AND ENDURANCE
Toward the end of Hebrews 10, the writer sets the tone for the rest of his letter when he writes:
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. (Hebrews 10:36)
We studied Hebrews 11 earlier and saw many examples of men and women who lived by faith. In these descriptions of faith, we see again and again the reference to endurance. Abraham endured. He did not allow his life to become settled within this world’s system because God had shown him a Kingdom beyond this world whose builder was God. Abraham endured here in order to possess that Kingdom. Moses endured ill treatment with the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin because he saw the reality of Christ. As the writer moves into chapter 12, he encourages us, too, to endure:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)
God calls us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us. All of these godly examples have gone before us, and now with their encouragement we are running a long-distance race that will find its finish at God’s eternal throne. So many things along the way could distract us: Pleasures in this world could consume us; difficulties in relationships could cause us to lose heart. Because of this, the race to which we are called cannot be run on the basis of speed, personality, or style. This race is eternally significant. The objective is to finish; endurance is the character quality most needed to finish the race. The writer has given us a series of examples, but now he points to the supreme example of endurance:
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God’s throne, where we will finish our race. Christ is not only the goal of this race, He is our example to follow. His power enables us to run. Christ endured all that His Father had called Him to endure: He endured the battle with Satan, and He endured the onslaughts of men:
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:3-4)
The writer tells us to look at Jesus as our example. We have not yet confronted the degree of hostility that Christ faced. When we focus on His example, we will not become tired so quickly and give up the race before it is finished. The writer tells us that we have not yet come to the place of shedding blood in our battle against sin, as the Lord Jesus did. Jesus persevered in the midst of the lashes, the thorns, the nails, the spears. Even then He did not give up. He endured all the way to the cross, where His life was given and His blood spilled to wash away our sins.
When we look at the Son of God and all that He endured in order to please His Father and to redeem our lives, we are encouraged. All that we face in the way of temptations and difficult circumstances does not begin to compare to the path He walked before us. Now He lives within us, giving us the resources to continue to walk when our own strength is gone. The writer continues by telling us of God’s ministry of discipline that enables us to endure:
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” (Hebrews 12:5-6)
An important aspect in the life of every child is the discipline of his father. A father who loves his children disciplines them. So it is with our Father in heaven. Because He loves us, He disciplines us. God allows us to go through difficult times, painful circumstances, and problems in relationships to teach us always to come to Him for His strength:
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:7)
The writer focuses here on the basic goal of discipline. The purpose of discipline is to develop endurance. When a runner runs an important race, her first time on the track is not on the day of the race. She has been there for days, weeks, even months, disciplining herself so that on the day of the race she will not fall on her face before reaching the finish line. All those months of discipline have built into her body the strength she will need to finish the race and to win.
God disciplines us in order to build into our lives the strength we need to finish our most important race—the race of life, which brings us before His eternal throne. It is the commitment of His love for us that enables us to run with endurance, to finish, and to win.
AN ETERNAL PRIZE
As the writer continues, he tells us that our earthly fathers disciplined us in the ways that seemed best to them to fulfill their goals as parents. The goal of God’s discipline in our lives is much higher:
For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:10-11)
God’s intimate work in our lives brings us to the highest fulfillment in the life of any person. God disciplines us so that we might share His holiness and so that our lives might yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness. People push themselves and strive for excellence for many reasons: monetary goals, high position, the recognition of men. The highest goal, the epitome of achievement in the eyes of God, is that the holiness and righteousness of His life will fill our hearts. That is why we strive in this race. That is the reason for our perseverance when those around us have quit and are encouraging us to quit as well. We are pursuing God Himself. The prize of His righteousness is the only pursuit that is truly valuable and worthy of all that is within us:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
TRIALS AND ENDURANCE
We have looked at God’s ministry of discipline, that builds into us the strength we need to endure in the race of life. James, the brother of Jesus, encourages us also concerning our attitude toward the trials God permits in our lives:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)
James is writing to “dispersed” Christians. Because of the great persecutions that had begun in Rome and Jerusalem, many Christians fled for their lives, leaving behind their homes, families, friends, businesses and possessions. James calls these believers to rejoice! If they can learn to see their lives and circumstances from God’s perspective, they will have freedom and joy. James tells us here that our focus makes all the difference. If we are caught up in our circumstances with a “why me” attitude and react with anger and frustration toward God, we will miss the whole point. We will lose a sense of what God is fulfilling in us through our life situations. Trials are our friends, James says. God is using them to produce in us the endurance that must characterize our lives in this world.
God’s plan for our lives, through the course of time, is to bring us to maturity. His goal is to accomplish in us the growth of the qualities that are pleasing to Him so that when we stand before Him, nothing will be left undone or lacking. Trials and testings are critical parts of that growth process. Let it happen, James tells us. Participate with God in the process. Respond to Him. We are always to keep our eyes on who we are becoming in Christ. The fulfillment of that process in our lives is worth anything we must endure here. Even Jesus was involved in that process of suffering in order to learn obedience:
Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, (Hebrews 5:8-9)
Jesus, who was never disobedient, learned obedience! God is teaching us about a pattern of responsiveness that He built into His Son through the sufferings Christ endured. In the face of every trial, every temptation, Jesus turned to His Father. In the framework of that process, Christ grew to maturity and became the means of God’s life to us.
God has allowed us to see a small part of that process in the lives of Christ’s disciples. Peter, who is such an example of endurance, faced the greatest trial of his life as Jesus offered up his own. Scripture gives us accounts of the many boasts that Peter made and then was unable to fulfill in his own weakness. On this occasion, however, Christ prepared Him for the most powerful temptation:
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. (Luke 22:31-32)
What a picture! Satan has demanded permission to sift Peter like wheat! As with Job, Satan needed God’s permission to work in Peter’s life in this way. His purpose was to destroy Peter in every way: spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and physically. Satan’s aim was to separate Peter from his faith, as wheat is separated from the chaff in the threshing process. The turning point of this trial, and of Peter’s life, was Jesus’ presence with him in this experience. Peter would not go through this alone. Christ told him that He had already prayed for him, that he would come through this experience and be even stronger than he was before. Even Satan would be a tool in God’s hands to develop endurance and ministry in Peter’s life:
Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.” (Luke 22:33-34)
How does Peter respond to Jesus’ revelation and to His words of encouragement about what is about to occur? Rather than fall at Jesus’ feet in worship, he is consumed by fleshly attitudes once more: “I am ready, Lord; I am able. I will follow you all the way!” Another fleshly boast, and Christ had to confront him again. Peter was so weak and so vulnerable to the temptation to trust in himself and his own resources, yet God accomplished all of His will in the life of this man, who came to him with a whole heart.
Just as He did with Peter, God will bring us through every trial and temptation; He will be with us in every tribulation. His faithfulness will be the difference in our lives and ministries, just as it was in this weak man. As He did with Peter, God will accomplish all of His will in our lives as we walk with Him. He will also, even in our weakness, cause us to be men and women of great power.
JEREMIAH: A MAN WHO ENDURED
Jeremiah was a prophet to Judah when the people of God were exiled to Babylon. This man, like Peter, was not strong in himself. How did he respond when God called him?
“Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” (Jeremiah 1:6)
Yet even in Jeremiah’s youth and his weakness of speech, God had raised him up for a significant ministry among His people. Just as God did in Peter, He would accomplish all of His will in Jeremiah’s life:
But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.” (Jeremiah 1:7)
Jeremiah’s ministry came at a very dark time in the history of God’s people. Because of their rebellion and sin, God had allowed them to be led away to captivity. Of course, they were already captives in their hearts because they had given themselves away to other gods. As a result, God allowed them to become physically enslaved, using their physical condition as a mirror of their inner condition. Yet even then they did not return to the Lord. Even as captives, they continued to worship the gods of the heathens.
RUN WITH THE HORSES
Jeremiah’s ministry was characterized by endurance. His ministry covered nearly forty years, with no positive response from God’s people to the message he proclaimed. Jeremiah experienced much pain and great persecution as he sought to faithfully communicate the message God had entrusted to him. One of the things Jeremiah had to endure was his confusion concerning God’s justice. He continually faced rejection and often lived with deep hurts from the attacks of men. At the same time, those who rebelled against God seemed to live lives of prosperity, with everything falling easily into place for them. Eventually Jeremiah confronted God about this very thing:
Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? (Jeremiah 12:1)
How often have we felt as Jeremiah did? It does not make sense to us that God’s people, who live before Him with hearts of obedience, so often experience devastating losses, have much pain or sickness in their families, and suffer great financial need. At the same time, those who give no thought to God often seem to live in ease and prosperity. Haven’t we, too, questioned God’s justice in the face of this? It seems sensible to us that those who trust in God should experience His blessing and prosper. We feel that God’s justice should be clearly evident in His care for His own.
God’s response to Jeremiah’s cry comes in the form of a strong confrontation:
If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan? (Jeremiah 12:5)
“If you have had difficulty handling the normal circumstances of life, Jeremiah, how will you endure when the situations far exceed your strength?” This is God’s response to Jeremiah’s complaint concerning His justice! If Jeremiah cried before the Lord when he saw the wicked prospering, how would he handle the coming captivity of God’s people and their continual rebellion? Jeremiah needed God to strengthen his own heart for the battles he would face rather than confront God when His actions did not match Jeremiah’s sense of justice.
We, too, need hearts that endure when our life situations do not fit our concept of justice. Like Jeremiah, we tend to feel that God is “unfair.” In reality, God knows nothing of “fairness” in His dealing with men. If we lived in a kingdom of “fairness,” all of us would be cut off from Him for all eternity. Only by His grace and mercy have any escaped His wrath. God functions according to His justice, righteousness, and mercy in all of His relationships.
God might very well confront us, too, when we compare our circumstances with those of men and women who live in rebellion against Him or have yielded to the system of this world. We may need to be reminded, with Jeremiah, that if we cannot handle the normal difficulties of life—the attacks of the enemy and the afflictions of men—in the strength God supplies, how will we be able to respond when the circumstances far exceed our resources? Our hearts must be strengthened so that we can “run with the horses” in great victory and endure in all that God allows in our lives.
HIS PRESENCE, OUR PEACE
Paul wrote to his beloved church at Philippi while he was imprisoned in Rome. His words of encouragement to them is an encouragement to his own heart as well:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)
The apostle is commanding the church to rejoice! It is so easy to become convinced that our feelings are the results of our circumstances and situations, that they fluctuate beyond our control. The Scriptures make it clear that we can control our feelings, give direction to them, even command them. We can see that truth in David’s psalms, where he often commands himself to find his joy in God:
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. (Psalm 9:1-2)
In this same way, Paul calls the children of God always to rejoice. Even in times of great pain and loss, in circumstances that overwhelm our hearts, we can find joy in the Lord; in fact, we must find joy in the Lord!
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; (Philippians 4:5)
It is the Lord’s presence that enables us to be gentle in our responses to people and circumstances. We will talk more about this wonderful truth in chapter 7. “The Lord is near.” God’s nearness is the reality that sets our hearts free to rejoice and then to endure. His presence enables us to persevere. When our world seems to be crumbling around us, the Holy Spirit gives us the grace to say, “God knows all about this; He is here with me; He will bring me through this situation.”
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)
Now Paul teaches us how to battle through our circumstances, holding on to God, in such a way that our hearts can rejoice. We do not allow our hearts to become overwhelmed by anxiety. All of the fears that the enemy would introduce in our minds, all of the “what if” questions, are laid aside. In our confusion, our fears, our circumstances and afflictions, our pain-filled relationships, in everything, we come to God. In a process of prayer and petition mixed with thanksgiving, we bring the needs and desires of our hearts to Him.
Prayer is the privilege of an intimate communion relationship with God. In prayer we fellowship with our Father. We participate with Him in the working out of His will, and we do battle against the forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Petitions are the supplications of our hearts. Within the communion, the fellowship, and the battles, they are the deep and honest cries that come from our hearts in the midst of our pain and need. We have the freedom to cry out to God openly, vulnerably, as we come to Him. All of this is mixed with an attitude of thanksgiving. We keep coming to God with thankful hearts, even in the most difficult situations.
There is something of great beauty in thankful hearts. Rather than focus on what we do not have, we are grateful for what God has given. Instead of complaining about our circumstances or relationships, we maintain an attitude of thanksgiving. We see God’s grace and sense His mercy, and we know that we do not deserve those blessings. We do not earn His goodness by performing well. It is having hearts of thanksgiving that set us free to rejoice. The ability to see the goodness of the Lord as we go through difficult and painful trials is a gift of His Spirit. We must value this treasure carefully as God’s stewards and monitor our hearts continually.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)
When we “rejoice always” and come to God with prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving, not allowing our anxiety to control our hearts, His peace stands guard over our hearts and minds. His peace, which transcends understanding, will keep us in the sanctuary of God’s protection. We are not able to “figure out” our circumstances or find solutions to painful relationships. We must turn to the Lord, and His peace will guard our hearts and enable us to endure.
GOD IS OUR REFUGE
We can endure in life and ministry because our heavenly Father is committed to our perseverance and to our care along the way.
The apostle Paul describes God’s keeping grace to the church at Philippi:
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:3-6)
This truth is the basis for our confidence as well. We can hold onto God and “keep walking,” even in the greatest afflictions, temptations, and battles in our lives, because He is holding on to us and will carry us all the way to the end of the race that He has set before us.
The truth of this reality comes alive in a vivid way in Psalm 31. It is probable that David wrote this psalm as he was fleeing from King Saul. The king, in his hardhearted disobedience, pride, and madness, was seeking to kill David. This is one of my favorite portions of Scripture, because David’s honesty about himself and his circumstances is of such great encouragement to me. Sometimes David is praising the Lord, and then he slips to the depths of despair. But we see God coming to David again and again, meeting him where he is and filling him again with hope:
In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; (Psalm 31:1-3)
This teaching is unusually vivid. David speaks of God as a refuge, a deliverer, a rock, a fortress. Sometimes we forget that the Bible is an “Eastern” book. Our western culture tends to communicate by the more sterile means of insights, principles, and concepts. But Eastern teaching more often uses “pictures.” David gives us a series of word pictures that will fill us also with encouragement, hope, and the strength to endure:
You take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. (Psalm 31:4-5)
At the end of verse 3, David has been pleading with God to lead him for His own sake. David knew well that the reputation of the Shepherd was at stake in the way He cared for His sheep. Now he seeks God for freedom from the trap that his enemies have set for him, and for the redemption that only his Father in heaven can bring. We remember verse 5 as some of the last words that Jesus spoke on the cross.
HE SETS OUR FEET IN SPACIOUS PLACES
I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the LORD. I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place. (Psalm 31:6-8)
In his pain, David reacts with hatred toward those who trust in things made by human hands, and he reaffirms his hope in God alone. Even in affliction, David finds joy in His Father’s love and faithfulness. He knows that God is aware of all of the pain in his life and the despair of his soul. Now David offers a graphic description of the way God comes to him in times of affliction. Rather than hand David over to his enemies, God sets his feet in “spacious places.”
This is one of the most visual pictures in all of God’s Word. We may feel “closed in” by our difficult circumstances, or pressured by our pain-filled relationships, or overwhelmed by our many activities. But, like David, we have a God who comes to us in these times and sets our feet in large, spacious places. He gives us room, time, and encouragement. He provides enlarged realms of freedom in which we can walk in His grace and grow in His abundant mercy. Even in failures and wrong choices that have made us vulnerable to our enemies, our hearts can be free as we repent and seek our Father’s pardon.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he says, “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold” (Romans 12:2, Phillips). If we allow it, that is exactly what the world will do to us. This world will force us into its mold, pressure us on every side, and we will come out of that mold looking like everyone else around us. Our motives, values, passions, and pursuits will end up reflecting the world system in which we live. In this world we become “little people,” tightly squeezed into “little places.” But it does not have to be this way when God is the Shepherd of our lives! He sets our feet in spacious places. Even when we are surrounded by those who want to destroy us, God gives us room. He offers encouragement and hope:
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away. Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. (Psalm 31:9-11)
Here it is as if David takes his eyes off God for a moment and focuses on his circumstances. He talks of his distress, his weakness, and his grief. David describes his groaning and anguish, and the contempt that his neighbors have for him because of his enemies. Even his own friends desert him. What aloneness this man of God is experiencing!
I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel. For I hear the whispering of many—terror on every side!—as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life. (Psalm 31:12-13)
David is not only alone; he also feels that he has been forgotten. He is broken and surrounded by terror; he is slandered, and men conspire to take his life. What pressure and pain fill David’s heart! We can sense only in a small way how overcome he is by his enemies and his circumstances. We see him sinking further into despair. But now, just in time, he sees again a glimpse of how God meets him in the midst of his battles.
OUR TIMES ARE IN HIS HAND
But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! (Psalm 31:14-15)
“You are my God,” David cries. He affirms his trust in his heavenly Father. And then he reminds his heart and ours of one of the most powerfully transforming truths about God and how He gives confidence and security to His hurting children: “My times are in your hand!” David, even in the most devastating circumstances and pain-filled relationships, knew that all of the times of his life were in the hands of his sovereign God.
Do we live with that awareness, that all of the times of our lives are in God’s hands? Our times of growth and maturing are in God’s hands. Our times of failure and spiritual battle are part of God’s sovereign process. The times of our conversions and fruitfulness, our work and our ministries, belong to God. The salvation of our children and their growth, their victories and defeats, are in God’s hands.
This truth sets our hearts free. It is the sovereignty of God, and our ability to see it, that enable us to walk in confidence even in situations and relationships with people that would destroy us. It is this understanding that enabled Joseph to say to his brothers, who had tried to destroy him, “God sent me here ahead of you” (Genesis 45:7) when he revealed himself to them in Egypt. And it was this truth that set him free to tell them later, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” (Genesis 50:20) It was Joseph’s great view of God and His sovereignty that set him free to forgive his brothers, to love them, and even to become their servant. When we learn that all of the times of our lives are in the hands of a sovereign God, our hearts, like David’s and Joseph’s, will also be set free!
Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love! (Psalm 31:16)
What do you desire from God when you are surrounded by your enemies and overwhelmed by your circumstances? Do you desire freedom and deliverance? Surely David desired those things also. But there was one thing that David desired even more than deliverance from his pain-filled situations; he desired the smile of his Father’s approval:
O LORD, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol. Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt. (Psalm 31:17-18)
David’s focus turns to his enemies, and he asks God to give them what they deserve for their sins against him. But then this man after God’s own heart sees the reality of what God is doing in the unseen realms.
HE STORES UP HIS GOODNESS FOR US
Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! (Psalm 31:19)
Even as David experiences leanness and aloneness, he knows that God is storing up His goodness for him and will pour out that goodness on him at the proper time.
Perhaps as you read this text, you find yourself in the middle of devastating circumstances, and you feel surrounded by those who would destroy you. Maybe you are suffering financial loss or are battling sickness, or difficulty in your marriage or your family. You need to know that there is a God who is storing up His goodness for you. You cannot see it now, but it is true. Even in these days of leanness, your heavenly Father is storing up His goodness, and in His sovereign timing, He will pour that goodness on you to such a degree that you will not be able to contain it!
In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues. (Psalm 31:20)
David sees something else about God in his times of affliction. God not only sets his feet in spacious places and reminds him that his times are in His hands, but He also causes His face to shine on those He loves. He hides those who trust in Him in the shelter of His presence. He creates an environment of the greatest security and protection in the most insecure situations of life. His glorious presence surrounding us is our great confidence. David talked about this sometime later when he said, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty…He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge.” (Psalm 91:1-4)
HIS WONDERFUL LOVE IN A BESIEGED CITY
Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city. I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help. (Psalm 31:21-22)
When do we sense the love of our heavenly Father? Is it when we are healthy and when our finances are in good shape and our marriages and our families are doing well? Can we know God’s love when we are sick and devastated by financial loss, when we experience pain and aloneness in our relationships? David experienced God’s wonderful love in the midst of the greatest attacks of his life, and so can we. Even when David felt that God was not aware of what was happening in his life, God heard his cries for help and met him there.
Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD! (Psalm 31:23-24)
As David reviewed God’s sovereign care and His powerful provision in the face of David’s greatest fears, he gives counsel to his readers. Hope in God! Be strong. Be encouraged. What has been my experience will be your experience as well, by God’s grace, because our Father preserves the faithful.
GOD PRESERVES THE FAITHFUL
I often have the opportunity to teach in the Philippines, a country whose people I have grown to love deeply. When I am there, I always look forward to seeing my friends Irv and Mary Stauffer. Irv and Mary have been career missionaries in the Philippines with the Baptist General Conference and have wonderful gifts of organization, service, and encouragement in addition to their substantial teaching ministries in that beautiful country. I have enjoyed their help and hospitality on many visits to Manila.
In May 1980, Irv and Mary had finished their first term in the Philippines and had also just concluded a year of home assignment in St. Paul, Minnesota. Five days before they were to return to the field, Mary took their eight-year-old daughter, Beth, to the hairdresser. As they left the beauty parlor and approached their car, a young man with a gun kidnapped Mary and Beth and held them captive in his home.
At first, Mary did not recognize the man who had taken them. But he reminded Mary that she had been his math teacher in his first year of high school in 1966. He said that he had received A’s in all his high school classes except for the grade Mary had given him. He told her that this one lower grade had cost him a scholarship to the school he had hoped to attend. He hated Mary for this perceived injustice and was also consumed with sexual fantasies about her. So he kidnapped her.
After placing a plastic bag over Beth’s head and threatening to kill her, their captor forced Mary to submit to his sexual advances. For seven weeks, except for a brief trip they took, this man kept Mary and Beth in a small closet. There was no way of escape. Their situation seemed hopeless.
God’s presence was His sustaining grace for Mary and Beth during those weeks. Even in those devastating circumstances, they knew His love and care. Then, after fifty-two days, their captor used a bicycle chain and cable to fasten Mary and Beth to a closet door that had a loose hinge pin, and he left for work. By God’s grace, Mary and Beth were able to remove the hinge pin and escape their terrible prison.
During the investigation, it was learned that the man who had kidnapped them had made nine hours of videotape, on which he recorded his sexual attacks on Mary and many of their conversations. Three hours of taped conversation were reviewed during the trial. Again and again, Mary had shared the gospel of Christ with her captor. On one part of the tape played at the trial, Mary said to the one who sought to destroy her life, “When Jesus is in control of your life, you can endure something like this.”
The defense attorney asked Mary during her testimony, “When you used the term Christian on the videotape, what did you mean?”
Mary responded, “I meant it in the sense of being born again, the sense of believing in Jesus Christ and trusting Him as Savior, of having Him as ruler of your life.” Mary’s heart and her faith were not destroyed during this devastating battle! The gospel of Christ, which had been her mission in the Philippines, was also her mission in the closet of captivity and in the courtroom.
At the trial her kidnapper somehow got away from the guards while Mary was testifying and was able to get behind Mary. He had smuggled a jackknife from his jail cell into the courtroom, and he held it at her throat as he threatened her once again. God again protected Mary’s life, but in the scuffle that followed, she received a four-inch cut on her cheek and needed sixty-two stitches to close the wound.
God healed Mary’s, Beth’s and Irv’s wounds in a glorious way. After the trial, Mary showed no bitterness or anger in the follow-up interviews. She said, “I hope I don’t forget all the wonderful things God has done, and all that I learned. I even hope that I don’t forget my feelings of depression and discouragement, because, really, I had never felt that way before.”
Irv also revealed the glorious grace that God had given him when he said, “After going through the sufferings and heartache of the experience, it is my concern that we don’t forget about it but that it will make us sensitive to the needs of others as they are struggling, as they are going through times of crisis and tragedy.”
The mission asked Irv and Mary to undergo counseling before they returned to the Philippines. They felt no need, but they graciously submitted to their leaders. The counseling quickly revealed that God had protected and healed them, and they returned to Manila. Thinking back on this experience, Mary says, “My only scar is on my cheek.”
Why were Irv, Mary, and Beth able not only to endure and survive such a devastating ordeal but also to triumph in it? Because their experience was the same as David’s in Psalm 31! Just as God came to David when he was in despair and about to be destroyed, God came to my friends. He came to them in that closet and the fears that surrounded them and set their feet in spacious places. He reminded them that He was their God and that their times were in His hands, and then He caused His face to shine on them. Even in those terrible circumstances, God was storing up His goodness for them, preparing to pour it out on them in his sovereign timing. He hid them in the shelter of His presence and showed His wonderful love to them while they were in a besieged city!
So, along with King David and the apostle Paul, my friends Irv and Mary would encourage you and me to persevere today. Together they would shout to us, “God preserves the faithful! Be strong, take heart, and hope in God!”
HE LEADS US IN TRIUMPH
When the apostle Paul wrote his second letter to the church at Corinth, he portrayed another reason we can endure. Our Father is committed to our finishing the race and winning victoriously. We can walk confidently, knowing that God will not only carry us to the end but that He has raised us up to share in the triumph of His Son:
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. (2 Corinthians 2:14)
God never fails; He always triumphs! He has called us to walk with Him in a triumphal procession through time and history. He is using us to fill the earth with His glory, even when we suffer attacks, afflictions, pain, and persecution. The psalmist described that truth this way:
Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. (Psalm 66:8-12)
This is once again a vivid picture of the trials God allows and the very real battles we face in life and in ministry. He tests us, He refines us like silver in the crucible of His sovereign care. He allows us to be imprisoned and lays burdens on our backs. Men “ride over our heads,” and we go through fire and water. But we have a God who is holding us through it all. He is our keeper. And He brings us out of it all into places of abundance. That is why we can endure. Our heavenly Father will lead us in triumph through every affliction, be our keeper in each battle, and fill our hearts with hope every step of the way.
GROUP STUDY GUIDE AND PERSONAL APPLICATION
1. Where in your own life experience have you seen the greatest need for endurance?
2. What circumstances are you facing right now that will demand a spirit of perseverance to get through them?
3. How do you respond to the relationship between discipline and endurance? How have the disciplines of your heavenly Father come into your life?
4. When God has brought the disciplines of His love into your life, how have you responded? Have you reacted with resentment, even knowing at the time that your experience was one of discipline?
5. As you look back at your experiences of your Father’s disciplines, do you feel it was all worthy of an “eternal prize,” or was the cost of pain more than what you gained?
6. Do you find yourself more sensitive to seeing your trials as part of God’s process to bring you to maturity in Christ as you grow in the Lord?
7. As you studied Psalm 31, what kinds of personal applications did God’s Spirit bring to your heart? Did you find your view of God being expanded?
8. How did you respond to the story of Irv, Mary, and Beth? Did your heart fill with a sense of worship, or did you become even more fearful of this evil world?
REFLECTIONS, COMMITMENTS, AND PRAYER
Every one of us has experienced the pain and loss that comes from living in this world. Think back on some of your painful experiences, and ask God to enable you to see them through His eyes. Thank Him, as David did, for the fact that “He saw your affliction and knew the anguish of your soul.” Praise God for His faithful commitment to conforming you to the image of His Son, and to building His heart into you, even in the disciplines of His love. Ask God to make you more aware each day that you live in the refuge of His presence and that all of your times are in His sovereign hands. Thank Him for storing up His goodness for you, even when you cannot see it. Worship God for making His wonderful love known to you, even when you have been in the “besieged cities” of your life. Tell Him that you love Him for being your Keeper and for filling your heart with hope!
But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
Luke 22:26