“My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can! For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up in you the power of endurance.”
Sometimes it is necessary to be in the moment of each day to be in the place of encounter where we meet God.
There is then a joy within perseverance even in the broken times when we perceive a strength that grows from it.
When we as a body and in fellowship persevere together we can support or borrow each other’s faith alternately and therefore all keep standing despite the inevitable ebbs and flows of seasons or moments we are within.
It is a team spirit for the benefit of all similar to the shared effort and benefit in a flight of geese arrow headed to break the air apart and then to retire into the air flow of rest while another takes the turn to exert the effort.
Faith is also imperative, both in that of the Trinity as well as in one another.
Faith opens our heart to revelation and encounter. This is frequently demonstrated within characters in scripture. For example it is amazing the faith demonstrated by Noah to be living in a desert where rain fell very infrequently to trust against, what must have been ridiculed, to spend a life time obediently building a boat to withstand a flood.
“Faith opened Noah’s heart to receive revelation and warnings from God about what was coming, even things that had never been seen. But he stepped out in reverent obedience to God and built an ark that would save him and his family. By his faith the world was condemned, but Noah received God’s gift of righteousness that comes by believing.”
There is both the shared toil and the shared celebration and joy.
The gospel doesn’t say ‘if’ trials come it says ‘when’ they are an expectation to be endured in this world but the joy is eternal to be partially known in this world but an ongoing benefit into eternity.
We have to pray and ask God for perseverance and cast off the reluctance to embark in the battle. Complaining and being battle weary causes us to shy away from what has to be pushed into. We train for a marathon and not a sprint in our strength and our mindset.
“For Who has ever intimately known the mind of the Lord Yahweh well enough to become his counselor? Christ has, and we possess Christ’s perceptions.”
The mind if Christ prepares for the long haul that we need to choose to prepare for to eliminate disappointment.
Again scripture has many examples of those who prepare the way or sow the seed not reaching the destiny or seeing the fruit in their life time but in the kingdom there is continuity into eternity where it is known and reaped.
Some of God’s words for us are ‘now’ words and some are ‘perseverance’ words rooted in faith, hope, expectation and promise. Our eternal perspective makes it easier to know that we have not got it wrong but it is to be fulfilled in God’s timing and in our eternity.
How many of us have struggled to open a stubborn jar only to have a final try or pass it over to another and it pops and releases. Without all those seemingly failed attempt the minute shifts would not have accumulated to the final success.
Our culture is instantaneously where the kingdom one is not always. It favours a cumulative, combined, co-labouring.
We don’t know the final tipping point of the bowl of tears and prayers in heaven that spill over into an activation.
Also we have to discover the differentiation between building God’s kingdom and our own ego kingdom.
There is a desperation in our thirst for Jesus to satisfy our needs and desires that pushes us further than what we can control ourselves.
God becomes our obsession and nothing else will do.
“And then as your endurance grows even stronger, it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.”
The pressures we encounter in this life that bring their trials we can learn to not waste.
Our prayer becomes not for them to stop but for them to train and teach us our perseverance.
The illustration shows the perseverance of migrating geese to go the long haul in the team mindset of supporting and alternatively taking the strain and lead. The light emanating to push back the darkness.
Four Scriptures that come to mind:
“My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can! For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up in you the power of endurance.” James (Jacob) 1:2-3 TPT
“Faith opened Noah’s heart to receive revelation and warnings from God about what was coming, even things that had never been seen. But he stepped out in reverent obedience to God and built an ark that would save him and his family. By his faith the world was condemned, but Noah received God’s gift of righteousness that comes by believing.”Hebrews 11:7 TPT
“For Who has ever intimately known the mind of the Lord Yahweh well enough to become his counselor? Christ has, and we possess Christ’s perceptions.” 1 Corinthians 2:16 TPT
“And then as your endurance grows even stronger, it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.” James (Jacob) 1:4 TPT
The song Run To The Father. Cody Carnes
Lessisgreater 