Seeing the need for endurance

I’ve [read] about people around the world who are training at home during the physical-distancing orders. Even though they have not been allowed to leave their small apartments or homes, many have shown great creativity in coming up with ways to continue training. People are running marathons on their balconies, in their yards, and even in their rooms. They see the benefits of continuing their training and, in particular, endurance training.

We need to see the need for spiritual endurance, and actively pursue it!

First, we must understand what endurance is. It is the ability to bear up under a load or great pressure, like a weightlifter bears up under a heavy load. He struggles and strains with all his energy as he lifts a large weight, keeping it up off the ground for the allotted time. Steadfastness, patience, fortitude, and perseverance are other words used to describe this quality.

In the same way that someone who has physical endurance doesn’t tucker out after the first lap (to switch metaphors), the person who has spiritual endurance doesn’t give up or give in to sin as a trial goes on. He continues to bear up under the trial, responding to it in God-honoring ways.

Throughout Scripture we learn God uses trials to produce endurance. These trials are also referred to as “tests”, “tribulations”, and “temptations.”

James:1:2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
See All... says, “The testing of your faith produces endurance.” Romans:5:3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
See All... puts it this way: “Tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character.”

Just like a runner builds his endurance by running longer distances and a weightlifter builds his strength by lifting heavier weights, we build spiritual endurance by “lifting” the heavy load of trials. This process requires hard work and is often uncomfortable. God uses trials to produce endurance as He builds up our spiritual strength.

But simply gritting our teeth and surviving a trial isn’t enough: trials don’t automatically produce endurance and proven character. In fact, every trial, trouble, or difficulty is not only a trial, but also a test! Every trial places us at a crossroads and we must choose either to trust and obey God or to doubt and disobey Him. God produces endurance in us as we obey Him and His Word in the trials we encounter.

We’ve seen this in our own lives. We can look back and see times when we’ve faced a trail and, by God’s help, chose to obey. One test that God brought into my life was a time when I faced significant health problems and was unable to carry out any of my normal activities. This season lasted way beyond what I thought I could handle. And yet today I can see that God used that extended trial to build my endurance and to change me.

—Sheila Pennington (She and her husband Pastor Tom Pennington serve at Countryside Bible Church in Texas).