Perservance - Not always easy!

 

Perseverance – Not always easy!

Oh to persevere……   I always think of it as accomplishing what I want to finish no matter what.   The Merriam Webster dictionary says perseverance means: continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition: the action or condition or an instance of persevering :  STEADFASTNESS

What does perservance mean to you?  Can you look back and remember when you have preserved?  What were the circumstances?  Did you succeed or were you able to let go of what had happened and leave it go?   Was there a time when you had to get someone else involved to help you out?

Perhaps sometimes the hardest thing to do is ask for help…….  When we are first widowed, there are many things we need to learn how to do as they were things our husband did.  We often had to except the fact there were some things we just could not do.

Ironically in looking into what the Bible had to say about perseverance, the parable that kept coming up was the Parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18:1-8.   It reads:  Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.  He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.  And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.  And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

How many times have we heard a sermon on this passage?  In scriptures, Jesus often talks about the widows and children. As widows, we are very important to Him and there are many scriptures on helping the widows. With that being said, while we are grieving, discouragement often sets in and we wonder how we are going to make it through life. How often have we felt as time goes on that no one cares, unless they have gone through what we have gone through!

There are injustices in life, but how do we overcome them?  We truly need to persevere and to rely on God to help us through these injustices.   We may also need to get counsel for some things.  The judge whom this widow had gone to time and again did not seem to care.  What about God?  What had he promised?   And would He fulfill His promise! Isaiah 54:4-5 reads: “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
God of all the earth. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.  You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.  For your Maker is your husband – the Lord Almighty is his name – the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.”

What a fabulous promise!  Sometimes reading this is almost too good to be true.  But if He says it, He will do it. God granted the widow at the well justice against her adversary.   He will do the same for you!  The widow was persistent enough to provoke the judge to grant her request.  Her persistence reflected faith, that her request would be granted. 

Do we have this kind of faith?  Are we able to persist with this kind of faith with God?  So often it is do difficult to truly believe that God is with us each step of the way.  My prayer is that you do or you have someone to help guide you along the way.

God has promised us in Philippians 4:6:  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  If you are going through a tough time, this scripture may be difficult to accept.  On the flip side, if you have seen God work with you during those tough times, you know He is there for you.

My prayer for each of you reading this, is that you will allow God to help you persevere!