Because my blog is called PERSEVERE, I’m trying to encourage you to stay on course with Jesus. Also, I’m here to challenge you—challenge you with what God has to say about things…
“If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small” Proverbs 24: 10 (NLT)
“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” Proverbs 24: 10 (NKJV)
Sometimes the same pressures and adversities seem to happen over and over… Maybe dressed in a different package, but nevertheless are the same. Ever wonder why? I’m asking you to take a good look at these Proverbs. Don’t they make you realize trouble is useful? Adversity can show you who you really are—it shows what kind of character you have developed. Let me show you this in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah questioned God because of all the trouble he faced. Life was extremely difficult for Jeremiah despite his love for and his obedience to God…
“Lord, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you. So let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy? You have planted them, and they have taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips, but you are far from their hearts. But as for me, Lord, you know my heart. You see me and test my thoughts. Drag these people away like sheep to be butchered! Send them aside to be slaughtered!
How long must this land mourn? Even the grass in the fields has withered. The wild animals and birds have disappeared because of the evil in the land. For the people have said, “The Lord doesn’t see what’s ahead for us!” Jeremiah 12: 1-4
Here is the Lord’s reply to Jeremiah…
“If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?” Jeremiah 12: 5
In essence, God was asking him how he ever expected to face big challenges if the little ones tired him out. We must realize that the trouble we experience today is training us to be strong for more difficult situations we will face in the future. Most of us know that God’s answers to prayer are not always nice or easy to handle. Something was said to me years ago when I first became a Christian… this was really hard to take, and made me very angry when it was said to me: I used to complain and have countless pity parties in the beginning because of the limitations this disease puts on me. So it was one of those times of me whining, and one of my new godly friends told me to “GET OVER IT!” I was more than upset. I was pissed off! But you know what…now I find myself telling others the same!
So, no…God’s answers to prayer aren’t always nice. Any Christian who has experienced war, bereavement, or a serious illness knows this. But when our prayers for relief aren’t answered immediately or even when the going gets tough… this is the critical time in which God is asking us to be committed! So with that said… are you going to persevere or are you going to complain?