Strength to persevere aka “hang in there.”

Some days I’m simply worn out. Part of that may be aftereffects of COVID-19 (notice the subtle way I called attention to myself there), but I’m not speaking in purely physical terms. The strength to persevere has to come from something outside of myself. I don’t have it intrinsically in me.

Fight the good fight, they say.

Some years back I was serving on the staff of a parachurch ministry in Metro Atlanta. I was also working part-time at a small church as a youth minister.

This was one of those dark seasons of the soul. I was flailing around, trying to get my spiritual bearings, and wondering what I was going to be when I grew up. We were also tanking financially. I was raising my own support at the ministry and was frankly lousy at it.

I’d had it, and I was such a whiner that I wanted the world to know that I’d had it.

One of my coworkers – who genuinely meant well, I believe – took it upon herself to encourage me. Kind of like Job’s friends.

She had the nerve to quote scripture.

“Remember what James said,” she told me. “We’re to consider it joy when we face trials. When your faith is tested, you’ll develop perseverance.”

I knew right then the rest of the conversation wasn’t going to go well.

She continued: “You just gotta hang in there, y’know?” And with a big smile, she said, “Wow. You are really strong.”

I didn’t punch her in the throat, even though  I wanted to.

I thought about this later. How strong does God want me to be, I wondered?

Honestly, in the last few weeks, I’ve felt like this. Maybe you have, too. I didn’t like hearing what she had to say, but I’ll be danged if it isn’t the truth.

If we respond correctly, trials really do make us stronger, wiser, and better. It’s a matter of perspective. God wants to give us the strength to persevere, but He has interesting ways to bring about His purposes. What He does can hurt like crazy.

Asking God for strength is easy. Relying on His strength is a different matter.

I’ve never felt that I had much willpower. It’s unspeakably easy for me to cave in the face of temptation.

You’d think that if that were the case, I’d depend on God more to supply that strength to persevere. Well, no … I start by depending on my own resources, crash and burn, and then turn to God. Then when He gives me strength, I squander it by doing things my own way.

That, pilgrim, is a wretched state to be in.

No matter how much willpower you have, it’s never enough. Am I right?

Willpower takes energy. It’s draining. When it runs out, you’re even more exhausted because you’ve let yourself down.

Too often we seek God’s strength when we’re in the worst place imaginable. It’s like He’s the last resort.

It has to be frustrating to be God. He wants to give us the resources of heaven, yet we insist on going it alone. We gird our loins, put our heads down, and forge ahead.

And here’s God, saying, “Excuse me, kiddo. I sure would like to take care of this for you. You just gotta ask.”

Here’s fact: You and I will need God’s strength for every single part of our lives. Yes, He gives us common sense (most of us, anyway.) He has every resource we will ever need to thrive and flourish in this world. Instead – we say something lame like “I got this.”

How does that work out for you? *snort*

Maybe today you’re doing better than ever. You’ve embraced the promise of 2021 and are relishing a fresh start.

Great. But you need to listen to your Uncle Tony: You will need God’s strength to stay that way. He’s going to be the only source you have of the strength to persevere.

Or maybe you’ve absolutely HAD it. You have nothing else to give. You are sucked dry. It may be you’re having family issues. Perhaps financial Armageddon is on your horizon. Politics and disease have gotten the best of you (or maybe the two combined are corrupting your heart and soul.)

In other words, you’re in major crisis mode.

Maybe you’re somewhere in the middle.

I don’t want to come across as patronizing or giving easy answers. If you need the strength to persevere, there is hope. There is always hope.

This is strictly a God thing, because you can’t make it on your own. He doesn’t want you to just persevere. He wants you to be a rockstar.

I don’t want to come across as my friend did. I don’t want to be a miserable comforter.

It’s a matter of two things: (1) Recognizing that God has walked with you and sustained you before, and (2) Being grateful for both what He has done in those dark days and what He will continue to do.

I have yet to meet anyone who said, “I followed God and He ruined my life.”

O be joyful.