Persevering Through the Pain

Something I have learned in life is that when God is telling you something he usually does it more than once. About a week into my journey God showed me Romans 5:3-4, "Not only so, but also rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." This verse really hit home with because I was most definitely suffering and I needed to learn to rejoice in my suffering.

Now a few days later God showed me James 1:3-4, "because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." After reading this verse all I could think was, WOW. Okay God I think you are trying to teach me something, perseverance. It would have been so easy if I had just curled into a ball and just shut myself down, but God was telling me that I needed to persevere through my pain.

This two verses say carry so much weight behind them. If we learn to persevere through our sufferings then we begin to develop character and hope. We also begin to mature and not lack anything. It is not easy though to persevere through the sufferings. You don't know how long the suffering is going to last, and also you have no idea what is going to happen along the way. It is so scary to get up and press on through the pain, but God rewards us for our perseverance.

Hebrews 10:35-36, "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." As Christians we can walk in confidence through the hard times because when we obey God, he gives us what he promised us.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I have been walking in the will of God for the past two months, and I know God is going to reward me for my faithfulness. He has been testing my faith and trust in him, and it is a test that everyone must go through at some point. Do not give up! Persevere through the hard times because they will come to an end, and God will be there for you always!

This was lesson number two...