Simply Angie
We have spent the last few weeks looking at how God expects us to grow as His children, as laid out in 2 Peter. We started with our foundational gift of Faith, added the courage of Virtue, sought the heart of God in Knowledge, and saw the wisdom to build safe walls through Temperance. But what happens when the road stays rough for miles and miles? What happens when the trial isn’t a fleshly temptation we can overcome through God’s power, but rather a long, exhausting season of suffering, sickness, or sorrow?
As we continue working our way through Peter’s list, we come to the next quality we are instructed to add to our faith: Patience. When we hear the word patience, many of us immediately think of waiting quietly in a long line or sitting calmly in a waiting room. While patience certainly includes waiting, the biblical meaning is much richer. The word Peter uses here is hupomone. It means a rugged, yet joyful, steadfast endurance under an immense load. It is continuing to obey God when obedience becomes difficult, costly, exhausting, or long. After the many hours spent in hospitals and doctors’ offices over the last few years, my husband jokes that he has had to learn to be a ‘patient patient.’ 😊 As I have been studying this passage, I found myself thinking about how these qualities build upon one another:
Many can start well. Patience is what keeps us going when the excitement has faded, and the road stretches farther than we expected. Don and I have often encouraged each other by saying, “Let’s make sure we end well.” Why Does God Allow Difficulties?One of the first questions we often ask when facing a trial is, “Why?” James gives us a surprising answer.
Our trials are not meaningless. Our difficulties are not wasted. When we come to understand God through His Word, we learn that He has plans for us that we can’t see yet. He has a purpose, always, in what He allows. God is producing something in us that could not be produced any other way. Notice that James does not say the trial itself is joyful. Few people enjoy suffering. Rather, we can count it a joy because we know God is using it to accomplish something valuable in our lives. Patience is not produced when everything is going smoothly. Patience is produced when faith is tested. Paul echoes the same truth in Romans:
God sees the finished product long before we do. As the Potter, He sees beyond the moments of our suffering and knows what He is making as a result of the work He is doing in our lives.
What feels like God treating us unfairly may actually be part of His process of making us stronger, wiser, and more like Christ. Jesus: Our Example of EnduranceIt is easy to get weary in this life. Sometimes the physical body wears down, and sometimes, if I am being completely honest, people make us weary. You can pour your heart and soul into others, only to face disappointment or betrayal. You find yourself asking, “Why do I even bother?” But the Apostle Paul whispers a gentle reminder across the centuries:
How do we keep from fainting in our minds? We do it by shifting our gaze. We have to look past the immediate pain of the road we are walking and look toward the destination. This is exactly how Jesus endured the ultimate suffering. He wasn’t looking at the agony of the cross or the shame of bearing the guilt of our sins; He was looking at the finish line. Whenever we struggle to understand our own suffering or feel the desire to throw in the towel and give up, we need to turn our eyes and our thoughts back to Jesus.
Notice that Jesus endured “for the joy that was set before him.” The joy was not in the cross. He looked past the pain to the victory that would follow. In many ways, this is how we endure as well. Our joy comes from knowing that this long, difficult road is almost over, and eternity is just around the corner. As a young person, I looked forward to heaven, but I certainly was not in a hurry to get there. There were too many things I wanted to do first. The older I get, however, the more precious that hope becomes. I am increasingly aware of the weariness of this world. The wickedness. The sorrow. The disappointments. The physical limitations. The burdens that all of us carry. Yet the promise of eternity shines brighter every year. If I squint, I can almost see the finish line. I can hardly wait to get there. Like our Lord, we can endure because we know what lies ahead. The suffering is temporary. The glory is eternal. The Mysterious Secret of a Sweet Spirit
For many years, I looked at Christians who suffered through devastating illnesses or deep personal losses with a sweetness of spirit that I simply couldn’t comprehend. I used to think to myself, “Oh my goodness, I could never bear that. I hate being sick, and I am such a wimp when it comes to pain!” Perhaps you have looked at others and felt the same way. But as I have walked further down life’s road and faced my own times of heavy testing, I discovered the beautiful secret: those saints weren’t doing it in their own strength. There is a vast difference between how a Christian endures and how the world endures. The world has no choice but to “hang in there” because time keeps moving forward. But when a mature Christian endures, they do it with an underlying, supernatural peace and a quiet, gracious joy. Paul describes this beautifully in his letter to the Colossians:
Look at where that patience comes from. It isn’t manufactured by our own willpower. It is supplied according to His glorious power. When we reach the absolute end of ourselves, God pours in a sweet, supernatural ability to keep going. One of my husband’s favorite passages is found in Isaiah 40.
What a beautiful promise. God does not give strength to those who think they have enough already. He gives strength to the faint. He increases strength to those who have no might. Sometimes we feel pressure to always appear strong. We put on a brave face, pretending we aren’t weak, tired, or deeply hurt; pretending we are handling everything just fine. But Scripture reminds us that the source of our endurance is not our own determination. The source is God Himself. That is why biblical patience is so different from merely “toughing it out,” or “hanging in there.” The world endures because it must. The Christian endures because God supplies the strength. We all become tired. We all become discouraged at times. The challenge is not to allow that weariness to cause us to quit. Patience continues faithfully even when results seem slow. The Purpose of the Long Haul of Endurance
God is using the long haul to mature us, to shape us, and to make us look more like Jesus. Every time you patiently endure a trial with a sweet, supernatural spirit, you are shining a brilliant light into a dark, exhausted world. You are becoming a living testimony of a God who can transform human weakness into divine strength.
A Christian who suffers with a sweet, peaceful spirit completely disrupts the darkness. It makes the world stop and ask, "How can they have peace right now?" God can use that testimony to draw hearts to Himself. Our growing faith that includes godly patience also acts as encouragement and inspiration for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I have been encouraged, challenged, and blessed more times than I can count by watching how others endure with joy what God has allowed in their lives. One other consideration can help when we are starting to feel a bit frayed around the edges of our endurance. Our confidence and our obedience in the hard times carry a massive eternal reward:
While reward should not be our first consideration, God uses it repeatedly through Scripture as an incentive to help us keep our focus. But our main incentive? That should always be first and foremost, the desire to please our Saviour.
I know this is getting a bit long, so let’s sum this all up: God expects us to have patience with joyfulness. Not patience with bitterness. Not patience with resentment. Not patience with constant complaining. Patience with joyfulness. And where does it come from? “According to his glorious power.” The same God who calls us to endure is the God who provides the strength to do so. We are not enduring for endurance’s sake. We are not simply hanging on until life is over. God is accomplishing something through every trial, every burden, every delay, and every hardship. He is making us more like Christ.
To put it simply:
Let's keep growing, keep adding to our faith, and keep our focus on eternity. Blessings, P.S. In case you missed my note earlier this week, I built a wholesome audio picture book library for families with young children called Storybook Hut. If you have little ones in your life, I'd love for you to take a peek. Talk to you again soon. Can’t wait?
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