Persevering With PurposeSample

Day 3: Spurred Towards His Plan

Perseverance is part of God’s plan for His people. His plan is the third pillar to our perseverance.

There are a few threads that run through the entire Bible. Firstly, it’s God’s story, not ours. It’s His-story, not our story, but we get to play a part in it to echo through all eternity. Secondly, God is always setting apart a group of people for Himself. A tribe of collective tongues who have been called together to help manifest Heaven on Earth – more on this tomorrow. And thirdly, God has a plan, a purpose, for each of these people to play their part in His story.

We don’t know exactly who wrote Hebrews. Many suspect that it was Paul, and if you view the common themes and threads in the letters of Paul, they correlate with the text in Hebrews. Yet, as we just said, all parts of scripture build on each other, connecting the threads into one beautiful tapestry on which God’s plan is storyboarded.

Paul often reminded followers of Christ to not give up and to endure the course set before them. In Acts 20:24 he clearly states that his life will be worth nothing if he does not finish his race and complete his task. In Hebrews we are also reminded, almost chapter for chapter, to endure. And among all the Old Testament figures of fortitude held up in honor for us to be encouraged by, all fall short of the ultimate example set to us by Jesus Christ – the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Like Jesus (the ultimate faith champion) and Paul (the greatest church pioneer in history) you also have a God-given part to play in His story.

You see, the first century church who received these letters we now call the New Testament, was not the cultural norm or expectation of their society. They were mostly the outcasts, not even the far-left or far-right, but simply the far-out. Between the power-hungry and perverse Roman Empire and the legalistic tradition-tracked Hebrew community, followers of Christ endured more resistance and adversity than any other group or sect of their time. Yet, through perseverance, they kept multiplying. That kind of brings our challenges into perspective. . .

But it is not only the physically persecuted who are encouraged in Hebrews 10. It is also the spiritually strained, the culturally confused and the busily burned-out who are encouraged to keep on doing the good they were called towards. Not to grow tired or weary, but to be spurred on towards their finish line with love, strength and a sound mind.

So, whether you set up mission houses in far off countries or send happy customers off to work with blessings from your coffee stand. Whether you serve as a teacher at church or a teacher in a challenging school system. Whether you are smuggling Bibles to persecuted believers or encouraging distressed colleagues. Whether you serve in the soup kitchen or build the company that can build soup kitchens. Whether you are a blue-collar or a white-collar worker, or a man or a woman of the cloth. . . If you are continuously allowing God to fulfill His plan through your life, you’re a masterpiece. And if you do not give up but keep pursuing this purpose through the change, through the challenge, and through the conflict, you are busy being God’s handiwork.

Therefore, stay strapped in. Just because your rollercoaster-life has not reached the top or started speeding up yet, you are still moving forward. You might not be happy with the compartment you’re in now, but just make sure you’re on the right train and that it stays on track. If the boat seems to be floating instead of sailing, just make sure you are still in Living Water, anchored in Christ.

You’ll get where God’s planning on taking you as long as you don’t stop moving in Him, with Him, and through Him.