Divine Restoration // Step Into Your Divine RoleՕրինակ

The Fruit of Perseverance

May I tell you a story? Once upon a time there was a man, He had many sons. The first son liked to lie in the garden while the sun warmed his face, his hands, his back. The second son liked to work, and he worked in the heat and the wind, the snow and the frost. He was steadfast and withstood many seasons of hardship; he toiled and did not falter. Another son enjoyed the fruit of his brother’s labor. He did not work but ate the harvest with relish, thinking little of the sacrifice the middle brother withstood to produce a harvest that supplied everything the family needed. 

I want you to be like the brother who worked with steadfastness, intent on the riches of your labor producing good harvest. For you have been given much, and with what you have been given more can be grown. But there are many trials to withstand for the harvest to be plentiful. And if you persevere, despite hardship, despite obstacles, despite challenges that feel daunting and impossible to withstand, it is the fruit of our Father’s hand you will reap. You will experience the fruit of life that is sweeter than anything handed to you without toil. For what you have been given--by my sacrifice--allows you to withstand any trial, any suffering. I have done it first. And what I give you is the gift of life that lasts forever.

What you experience now, with the hardship you face, is not more than you can stand. Because of my love for you, I do not leave you. And I carry any burden with you. When you suffer, I suffer. When you toil, I help carry the load. It is my promise to you that my love is enough to satisfy all your needs and desires. But it isn’t easy to believe this. It isn’t easy to choose faith and love and goodness when worry and pride and self-sufficiency propel you to carry the weight of your burdens on your own.

You forget me, over and over and over again. But I love you. So I give you everything. But to receive this everything, you have to see with eyes that see, hear with ears that hear. The trials in front of you are not strong enough that I can’t help you. Do you want help? Do you want strength? Do you want hope? Do you want to receive the everything I have for you right now? Then do this: when you grow weary of this world, and the trials feel too great, do not falter in your pursuit of Me. In the hardship, in the persecution, in the financial stress, in the relationship battles, I never leave your side. My goodness and mercy follow you everywhere. There is not one place they do not go--not when you let me help you withstand the trials and suffering of this world. 

And how do you let Me help you? You go forward--choosing love and kindness and compassion--no matter what challenge you face. You persist in choosing to love. You stay steadfast in showing mercy. You are a rock weathered against the storm, solid and sure, knowing that I am with you and that what you have been given from Me can never, never, be taken away. The obstacles, the problems, the troubles of this world are no match for Me--which means they are no match for you. You are resilient and strong and capable. Your efforts to endure hardship succeed because you do not do it alone. 

Watch what fruit is produced when you choose to partner with Me in this life rather than going it alone. I want you to experience life that is rich and full. Because I love you. So, don’t give up. My love for you is steadfast, enough for you. Always, always enough.

Exercise:

The enemy is quick with this lie: That what we are going through is just too much. That we won’t survive it. That we don’t have what it takes to persevere. And the lie feels so true when we’re in the midst of some struggle. 

And so, very often, we stop doing what we’re made to do. We stop looking for help from Jesus. We try to go it alone by coping alone. We isolate and look for escape. We deny and run and numb ourselves to the pain and fear—when what we’re meant to do is stand in them. What we’re meant to do, and made to do, is stand and face these trials, these obstacles—but not alone.

What percentage of your life, what percentage of your week this week, what percentage of today, will you spend with the mindset that you are alone in your struggles, in whatever you are facing? Take a moment, and be honest.

Here is what the apostle Paul says 2 Corinthians, chapter 4:  “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Eugene Peterson translated Paul’s words from this chapter like this: “If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken.” 

What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best! We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, ‘I believed it, so I said it,’ we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!”

Every detail—every detail of your struggle, every detail of your pain—every detail works to your advantage. Those details are meant for you, to be experienced. They are not meant to be ignored or escaped or anesthetized. So we must stand. You must stand. In the midst of hardship, you can stand. Because you carry the life of Jesus within you. You carry the Spirit of God within your very being. You are filled with His “incomparable power.” You can be shaken, but you cannot be brought down. For remember, God hasn’t left your side. And He is the One who “always knows what to do” even if you don’t.

So, even more than standing in the midst of our struggles, we can praise Him in the midst, too.

There is an amazing new song by Katie and Bryan Torwalt called “Praise Before My Breakthrough.” It invites us to turn to God in the midst of things that are hard or in the face of thing we don’t understand.

As you read the lyrics of the song, be sure to notice which lines stand out to you—notice which ones speak to your heart:

I know the tension of the now

I don't always understand

I don't always get to see

Everything

When I'm holding up my hands

When I'm counting every breath

Lord, all I need to know is

You choose me

You choose me

I'll praise before my breakthrough

'Til my song becomes my triumph

I will sing because I trust You

I will bring my heart, I will lift my song

When I'm listening for Your voice

And I'm shutting out the noise

I know that You will speak

Clearly

When I'm living out my faith

When I'm stepping on the sea

I know You take my hand and

Walk with me

Walk with me

I'll praise before my breakthrough

'Til my song becomes my triumph

I will sing because I trust You

I will bring my heart, I will lift my song

He who came in power, He will come again

He who heals the sick, won't He move again

He who raised the dead, won't He raise again

And I will sing, I will sing

He who came in power, He will come again

He who heals the sick, won't He move again

He who raised the dead, won't He raise again

I will sing, I will sing

Oh I will sing, I will sing

Jesus, thank you that You are here, with me, as I face these things. Thank you that You help me. You help me go forward, choosing love and kindness and mercy—no matter how difficult the challenge. Thank you that, because of You, I can stand and feel, that I can experience this hardship and survive. And thank you for the fact that hardship actually makes me better. Thank you for the words of your brother, James:

“. . . 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 power within you to endure all things. 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.”

I love You, Jesus. I trust You. I will partner with You in this life, and I’ll try not to try to go it alone, not anymore. I want to experience life—life that is rich and full. I want to experience all of it—not just the easy parts. And I will praise. I will praise You, even when I’m right in the middle of hardship.

In Your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.