The Faith to Persevere
“Because you have kept
My command to persevere . . .”
Revelation 3:10
Perseverance
means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s
life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God
is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our LORD continues to stretch
and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, "I can’t take any more." Yet God pays no attention; He
goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow
fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands. Is there something in your life for which
you need perseverance right now? Maintain
your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith.
Proclaim as Job did, "Though He slay
me, yet will I trust Him" (Job
Faith
is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence
built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him
right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when
you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the
eternal truth that God is holy love.
Faith is the supreme effort of your life – throwing yourself with abandon and
total confidence upon God.
God
ventured His all in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our
all with total abandoned confidence in Him. There are areas in our lives where
that faith has not worked in us, as yet, places still untouched by the life of
God. There were none of those places in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to
be none in ours. Jesus prayed, "This
is eternal life, that they may know You . . ." (John 17:3). The real meaning of eternal life is a life
that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take
this view, life will become one great romance - a glorious opportunity of seeing
wonderful things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this
central place of power.
Taken from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
copyright 1935 by Dodd Mead &