Perseverance
By Sid Thornton
The Apostle Paul uses this term, perseverance, a lot in his letters to the early churches. It is particularly powerful as he gives testimony of his own life in the midst of persecution. The Greek words he uses are ὑπομονή( hypomonē- noun) and ὑπομένω( hypomenō – verb) These two words are also translated“ endurance” and“ patience”. Hypomeno comes from two words literally meaning;“ abide up under”. Thus it carries the idea of remaining steadfast under whatever pressures are pushing down on you.
A modern day visual example that comes to mind would be some of the obstacles thrown at people who compete in the television show Wipeout. The contestant is trying to climb a set of stairs or navigate a climbing wall and a large volume of water comes crashing down on them. In order to survive they need to hang on and“ abide up under” whatever is thrown at them with the purpose of pushing them off course.
Like the Wipeout obstacle course, we are often hit with things that try to get us off course in our spiritual life. Hardship and sufferings are major things we need to abide up under in our walk with Jesus and in our life of ministry. For the Apostle Paul, he knew his calling and his need to persevere and endure. He writes to Timothy,“ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”( 2 Timothy 2:10)
Although I would hesitate drawing similarities with our lives as servants of God with Paul’ s, our family journey of faith and ministry have had times where perseverance was very important. As an example, we were in training to come to Indonesia to serve at a school in Kalimantan. At about the time we were getting ready to continue in that step, a number of obstacles came up that almost knocked us off the course. We were required to extend our time of training with the ultimatum of either extend or quit. We thank God for the confirmation we received to continue on yet shortly after that the school in Kalimantan we intended to serve at closed. In spite of these difficult times in 1995 we pressed on knowing God was leading us to serve in Indonesia and one hardship led to the blessing of coming to Salatiga.
Since coming to Indonesia there have been numerous“ large volumes of water” that our family has had to persevere through to get us to our current place in ministry. For example, in our first few years in Indonesia( after arriving in 1995) there were the normal experiences of culture stress. Additionally, I was sick with Typhoid fever for three
“ By His Grace through Faith, I can Persevere.” weeks in 1996 and then in 1997 there was a severe monetary crisis and social unrest. Since those early years, there has been other things we needed to endure including other illness, the events related to“ nine-eleven”, and the Bali Bombing to name a few. Through those“ big” things and the many other times of stress with interpersonal relationships, the Lord gave us the strength to“ abide up under” and keep on in the course of serving Him at Mountainview. It is only through his strength and grace that anyone can persevere. The Apostle Paul needed God’ s grace and help to persevere and we all need it today to do likewise. Whether it is a big trial of faith or purpose or a temporary inconvenience or conflict, God gives us the patience, perseverance, and endurance to“ keep on keeping on”.
Now after 18 years of service at Mountainview, our course of ministry is changing and we will equally need God’ s grace to help us in that new path. What will not change is the need to endure for the sake of the Gospel for regardless of the place of work or service, our higher calling is always our relationship to God and His Gospel. Paul reminds us that“ All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”( 2 Timothy 3:12) Trouble and hardship will come but as always, we can persevere by His grace through faith.
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