Throughout life, you may learn about or encounter individuals who face insurmountable difficulties. Yet, they seem to have a certain quality that helps them overcome them. “Perhaps perseverance is the best single word to capture this quality which includes endurance, courage, and hope.”1
Perseverance does not come naturally. Avoidance is more natural when facing difficulties. Therefore, perseverance is something to be developed. Rather than using your energy and resources to avoid or escape life’s difficulties, what if God wants you to face the difficulties with Him? What if God wants you to thrive despite life difficulties as a demonstration of His strength in your life and that you know Him?
Perseverance is considered “the great virtue of seeing things through” and comes from the Latin prefix per, meaning “by” or “through” and the Latin word severus meaning “severe” or “strict.”2
Spiritual growth and maturity are produced by “going through” the “severe” difficulties of life, not by eliminating the difficulties from one’s life. Paul wrote to encourage the followers of Jesus in Corinth because of the difficulties both he and they were facing:
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10
Unfortunately, there is no formula to eliminate all difficulties in life, but God does promise His presence and strength. God never abandons those who seek Him.
Spiritual growth comes through perseverance – trusting God’s character and obeying God’s instructions while facing difficulties with God’s strength and His presence.
Perseverance has also been defined as one’s ability to keep trying, to endure, and to maintain patience through difficult circumstances and/or suffering.3 When facing a challenge, setback, or even unavoidable failure, perseverance gives you the ability to push through any situation and continue moving toward a more preferred and productive future. Through knowing God and learning about and observing the examples of perseverance in others’ lives, you can draw strength from God to face your own difficulties and challenges.
The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked. Proverbs 24:16
You can be inspired to do the same through the accounts of others who have persevered. Read the Bible for yourself or investigate modern-day followers of God. You can learn and acknowledge how others have persevered and consistently exemplified perseverance in their lives by trusting and obeying God.
The Courage For Life Study Bible has eighty-two profiles of courageous women (women’s editions) and eighty-two profiles of courageous men (men’s editions) to inspire your faith in God. These courageous individuals embrace an unshakable and fearless faith in God. They exhibit perseverance because they know God. Their testimonies will ignite within you a courageous faith that boldly pursues the abundant life God desires for you.
Job: A Biblical Example of Perseverance
A biblical example of perseverance is Job. The Bible provides insight into the life of Job, a man who was prosperous with family and wealth as well as godly, blameless, and righteous before God. Severe tragedy entered Job’s life when he lost his children through a natural disaster, had his wealth stolen by enemies, and God allowed Satan to afflict his body with disease. Yet, Job exhibited endurance, courage, and hope throughout these tragic life circumstances and, thus, developed perseverance through knowing God. Recorded in Job 23:10-14 is Job’s attitude of perseverance despite his circumstances.
But He [God] knows where I [Job] am going. And when He tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed His ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from His commands, but have treasured His words more than daily food. But once He has made His decision, who can change His mind? Whatever He wants to do, He does. So He will do to me whatever Ge has planned. He controls my destiny. Job 23:10-14
Every person who follows God will experience difficulties in life. Therefore, you must remember to persevere through each difficulty and trust in who God is and His promises to you in the Bible.
The Bible promotes endurance and supplies encouragement through examples and instruction. “These two elements, [endurance and encouragement] are intimately connected with hope, for the endurance is worthwhile if it takes place on a course that leads to a glorious future, and the encouragement provides exactly that assurance.”4
Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled. Romans 15:4
Perseverance is a spiritual discipline that is developed.
You choose to persevere one day at a time, even one moment at a time. Each decision to trust God and obey His instructions leads to endurance, and God supplies more strength to you, which leads to greater spiritual awareness and growth.
The half-brother of Jesus, James, encourages those who are facing difficulties.
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4
James follows this encouragement with instructions on how to face difficulties.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:5-8
And through Paul’s suffering and his choice to perseverance, he encourages those who know God:
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. Romans 5:3–5
If you are facing difficulties, God knows. Don’t think God is unaware of your situation. God wants you to seek Him to strengthen you through the difficulties. God wants you to overcome as a demonstration of your life with Him. Therefore, will you determine to persevere by drawing upon the strength God offers you? With God, many have gone before you who have persevered through life difficulties so that they can be examples of what it looks like to face challenging, fearful, and overwhelming circumstances, yet endure through knowing God and responding to His instructions.
God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12
Jesus: The Ultimate Example of Perseverance
Our greatest example of perseverance is found in the person of Jesus. You can place your confidence in Jesus’ endurance to finish the work of your salvation through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension providing you a forever relationship with God now in your present life and in the future.
So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:14-16
God promises to provide you with the grace you need to help you when you need it most. This assurance should motivate you to persevere!
In the letter to the Philippians, Paul beautifully portrays Jesus’ attitude of perseverance to accomplish your salvation. Then, he challenges the Philippians to be like Jesus and respond to their life circumstances with the same persistent faithfulness so that God may accomplish His transformative work in their lives.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11
Dear friends, you [Philippians] always followed my [Paul] instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. Philippians 2:12-13
The Bible never implies that perseverance depends entirely upon your own human effort. God empowers those who follow Him to persevere through life difficulties and even rejoice when their lives bring God glory through enduring severe difficulties.
As you experience difficulties in life, persevere by “going through” the difficulties with God as your strength and the assurance that God’s presence is with you to help you endure daily, produce courage to overcome, and ultimately, live in the hope found through Jesus’ completed work on your behalf.
Footnotes:
- Rebecca Saunders Hayes, Grant Me a Portion (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1987), 59.
- Scott M. Peck, Abounding Grace: An Anthology of Wisdom (Kansas City, MO: Andrews McNeal Publishing, 2000), 133.
- Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
- Everett F. Harrison, “Romans,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Romans through Galatians, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 10 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), 152.
