Special to The Answer

As Christians we face many trials, tests, and tribulations. I wish I could promise new believers that they would never have any problems. But the trials and tests we face help us to mature and grow in our Christian faith. These trials can become stepping stones to a greater faith or tombstones that stop us in our tracks.

Christians need to have endurance. Endurance is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “the ability to withstand hardship, adversity or stress.” Endurance is a quality of an overcoming Christian.  Jesus said in Matthew 10:22 “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” So many new believers begin their Christian walk, but because they have no endurance, they fall along the way. They find the walk too difficult and they just give up. Psalms 34:19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”

How do we get endurance? Well, we develop endurance in several ways. First of all, you build your endurance through the Word of God. 1 Peter 1:23 says, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God.” As you hide God’s Word in your heart, you develop endurance because the Word endures forever. It only makes sense that if you put the enduring Word into your heart, it will produce endurance and strength. People who study and apply God’s Word become ‘victors’ and not ‘victims’.

Secondly, we get endurance by simply enduring trials. This sounds like a contradiction, but it isn’t. Endurance develops endurance. Many years ago I spoke on a television program (PTL) which was part of a larger complex called Heritage Village. The ministry owned a hotel, along with many other facilities; and in the center of the hotel a young lady was playing soft worship music on a harp. The harp was bigger than she was, but the music was anointed, relaxing and beautiful. When she finished playing, I approached her to tell her how much I enjoyed her ministry. I learned something that day. The strings on the harp were so sharp that they would cut a person’s hands. As I touched them I almost cut my hands. I asked her how a person could play such an instrument, and she explained something very interesting. When she began playing the harp it cut her hands badly, but as she continued, she grew calluses that would protect her hands. The cuts became calluses. The experience in the beginning was difficult, but it led to giving her strength and endurance to play. Our trials and tests work in our lives to increase our endurance. Christians who have learned to endure will usher in the second coming of our Lord.

Thirdly, we develop endurance by understanding God’s great love for us. God is for us and not against us. God’s love for us is unconditional. That means that it is not based on us earning it. I believe many times it is hard for us to comprehend just how much He loves us. Paul wrote in Romans 8:33 “Who can separate us from the love of God? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” Knowing that God loves me that much gives me the endurance I need to face any or every problem, test, or trial.

Remember our tests can be “stepping stones” to greatness in the Lord Jesus or “tombstones” that will stop or hinder our progress in this Christian journey. Endure and overcome!