“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” Hebrews 10:36

Patient Endurance

The phrase “patient endurance” has caught my attention recently. I know I’m enduring, but I’m not sure I’m always doing it patiently. I try! I’ve keenly known that I need the Lord to strengthen my heart to handle all I’m walking through.

The need for this kind of patient endurance only comes in very hard, ongoing times of trial. In smooth seasons—or in trials that are over and done with quickly, we don’t particularly need patience or endurance. But in lingering, on-going hard seasons—we certainly need this kind of grace to make it through.

I’ve found it helpful to acknowledge to the Lord how hard the trial is for me so that I can receive the full measure of His help. I’ve even tried to thank Him for trusting me with such a hard trial. He must have confidence that I can make it through it if He’s allowed it to come into my life. I ask Him, trust Him, to take the dark and heavy time and bring good and beauty out of it.

The waiting that I wrote about recently is part of the patience. “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” (Isaiah 30:18)

I’m working on learning the lesson of waiting in patient endurance. A “key” for me has been to constantly focus my eyes on Him, and not allow my mind to drift to the “what ifs” that may be still to come. I have to rest in God’s sovereignty, and keep my heart focused on trusting Him.

Rick Warren says, “The more you pray, the less you’ll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry. You’ll feel more patient and less pressured.”

God wants to help us to have patient endurance for the trials He knows we are facing. He’s provided prayer and worship to help us get through them.

“Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.” (Romans 12:12)

Someone reminded me recently of words my husband, Floyd, had written in one of his blogs. It certainly applies to our lives right now. “A testing time in our lives, big or small, is one of the ways God uses to teach us to depend more deeply on Him. As we go through tests, we discover God’s goodness in new dimensions. We gain confidence that God can and will meet us in the crisis experiences of life.”

God has faithfully met me each day.  Thank you for your prayers that have been part of that! I couldn’t have done it alone.

“Father, teach us to be patient in trial. We hang all our hope on You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”