Perseverance is a Spiritual Weapon
Florence May Chadwick was an American swimmer who was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. In 1952, Florence was the first woman to attempt to swim the 26 miles between Catalina Island and the California coastline. As she began, she was flanked by small boats that prepared to help her if she got hurt or grew tired. After about 15 hours, a thick fog set in. Florence began to doubt her ability and swam for another hour before asking to be pulled out. She was unable to see the coastline due to the fog and stopped swimming just one mile away from her destination. Two months later, Chadwick tried again. The same thick fog set in, but she finished because she kept a mental image of the shoreline in her mind while she swam.
Mary Anne Radmacher said, “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”
We’ve all been there. We face challenges that seem to grow despite our prayers, which seem to go unnoticed by God. In our frustration and discouragement, the enemy can defeat us if we focus on the problem and give up the fight. He can derail us with doubt, hurry, and fatigue.
Satan plants the seed of doubt with questions like, “Did God say He would be with you?” “Do you think God cares?” After a time, he gets us to take matters into our own hands. Either God is leaving it to us, or He is moving too slowly. So, we impulsively do for ourselves what we presume God won’t. The Hebrews convinced Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship as Moses was so long on the mountain. Finally, amid our doubts and haste to fix the problems, we exhaust ourselves and give up.
This was the enemy’s objective all along, but we can defeat him. Don’t quit! Endure! Persevere! James wrote (James 4:17), “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Persist in the battle because God is working behind the scenes for you.
Joseph’s circumstances challenged him. Other than acting spoiled, Joseph didn’t do anything wrong. His brothers, in their jealousy, wanted to kill him, but opted to sell him into slavery. In Potiphar’s house, he was falsely accused and found himself in prison for years. He felt alone and forgotten. God was at work and eventually raised him to govern Egypt under Pharaoh. In the process, he saved his family and much of the world from the severe seven-year famine. He persevered and won in the end, gaining more than he could have imagined. He credited God and His providence by telling his brothers (Genesis 50:20), “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
One of my flaws is impatience (and no, I don’t pray for patience). When Donald Trump was re-elected, I was hoping for justice for the anti-American traitors and sweeping governmental reform. I want the COVID criminals who are guilty of crimes against humanity to pay. I demand that the election fraudsters be brought to justice along with those illegally profiting from our tax dollars. Despite my wants and prayers, little seems to be happening.
God often works in the background on HIS timetable. Jesus didn’t appear in the world nine months after Adam’s sin. God’s timing was different, and He sent His Son when all the pieces were in place in the “fullness of time” (as Paul mentions in Galatians 4:4).
Whether we face a personal trial or a national one, we must use the spiritual weapons available to us. Perseverance will see us through to the end. Jesus tells us to “ask, seek, and knock” in Matthew 7:7, and we will receive. Those are continuous action words that imply persevering to accomplish a goal.
A century after the Valley Forge encampment, Henry Armitt Brown honored the over 2000 American soldiers who died of disease in the winter of 1777. Though these did not die on the battlefield, they endured to the end, and God worked through them, though they did not see the results. In part, he said:
Their trials here secured the happiness of a continent; their labors have born fruit in the free institutions of a powerful nation; their examples give hope to every race and clime; their names live on the lips of grateful people; their memory is cherished in their children’s hearts, and shall endure forever.
Jesus said (Matthew 24:13), “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” Endurance or perseverance is a spiritual force for this conflict. Use it and win!
Thanks for being with us today. Please “Like,” “Share,” “Subscribe,” and “Follow” our podcast. If you’d like to donate to our GNA ministry, please visit our website at GodNAmerica.com or email me for our snail mail address. I would appreciate your financial and prayerful assistance. Until next time, let’s …
Keep The Light of Our Persevering Faith Burning!
GodNAmerica.com
GodNAmerica, P.O. Box 851819, Yukon, OK 73085
