We start our walk with God with the miraculous experience of total unconditional pardon, rebirth and reconciliation with our heavenly Father. What joy, what peace, what lightness of being – how we love Him then. But this is just the beginning of ”the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:1). There is so much to learn, often with tears and disappointment, that many who started with joy and enthusiasm give up and fall by the wayside.
In 2 Peter 1 we read ”Make every effort to add to your faith goodness … knowledge … self-control … perseverance …” (v.5-6) and ”…be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (v.10-11)
In both the Old and New Testaments God’s people are exhorted to stand firm, to persevere. Before his death, Joshua spoke to the leaders of his people (Jos. 23:3-8). He said, ”You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done … for your sake (v.3). Remember … (v.4). Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written … without turning aside (v.6). But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done until now” (v.8).
We find here three foundation stones of perseverance –
· to look back, focus on how God has helped, provided and guided and remember
· to be careful to do what the Lord tells us, nothing else
· to be strong and hold fast the Lord our God
Paul writes to the church in Corinth, ”Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore … stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know your labour in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:57-58)
· by faith we know two things: God gives us victory in Jesus and our labour is not in vain. This knowledge gives us confidence and hope to keep running the race.
In Job 11:13-15 we read
· ”If you devote your heart to Him and stretch out your hands to Him,
· if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,
· then you will lift up your head without shame; you will stand firm and without fear”.
Here we find two enemies of perseverance in the race of faith – shame and fear.
Shame rules our hearts when we agree with the accuser, our enemy the devil, that we have failed and disappointed God. The truth is that God knows what we are and what we did, and He says, ”Come now, and let us reason together … though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Is 1:18) and ”the blood of Christ … cleanses our consciences” (Heb.9:14).
Fear rules our hearts when our eyes are on our situation and ourselves instead of on God. The truth, no matter what the circumstances, is that ”Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). ”The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Ps. 118:6).
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians we read, ”It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Gal.5:1). He refers to the bondage of sin and of legalism. Christ has set us free once and for all from both (read Romans and Galatians).
Peter warns us, ”Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace … after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Pet. 5:8-10).
Then there is the chilling warning Jesus gave his disciples, ”…he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Mat. 10:22).
So ”let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Heb. 12:1-3)
Elzeth Malherbe