Perseverance
Genesis 6:11-9:19 Noah
Genesis 37-50 Joseph
Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers Moses
Ruth Ruth
1 Samuel-1 Kings 2 David
Job Job
Matthew 24:13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Romans 5:3-5 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces home, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayers
2 Corinthians 16-18 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Philippians 3:12, 14 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus made me his own. . . I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 6:15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
James 5:11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
There are so many persons from the Bible who persevered waiting for something God had promised them. Noah waited and persevered in building a huge ark—with none of the power tools available to the 21st century. So, he and his sons manually cut trees, molded them to the size they wanted and needed and then attached one board to another—again, without any power tools—just good old-fashioned forming of wooden spike nails and pitch. But they worked to God’s specifications to build the ark, then while neighbors and others laughed and ridiculed, Noah called pairs of animals into the ark, cordoned them in their specific areas, gathered food supplies, water, and waited for God to send the rain. And send the rain He did. But Noah had persevered, ignoring the jibes, and just continued warning his neighbors of the impending flood and getting right with God before the rains came.
Job was a wealthy man who suddenly lost everything—his wealth, his property, all ten of his children, and then he was stricken with a severe, debilitating illness, full of sores, open wounds, lying in filth, and uncared for by his wife. Did they share in grief over the deaths of all their children? But God’s Word tells the story of Job’s faithfulness and perseverance to determine why he is ill, and what purpose God has for this. He persevered in claiming his innocence—not condemning God, blaming God, but suffering with the wounds, the stench, the debilitation, and wasting away, but proclaiming he never blamed God; he persevered in his illness without striking out in anger and blame.
Abraham was told when he was 75 that he would have a son and become the Father of many nations. Sara wanted to believe, but doubted—and after all, she was an old woman, how could she bring forth a child at her age, and him at his age? But she waited—for a while, then urged Abraham to sleep with her maid, Hagar. But Abraham did not doubt God. He caved against his wife’s nattering and verbal battering, but he held fast to God’s promise. He persevered, believing that God would bring about His promise. And in His time, Isaac was born to Abraham and his wife, Sarah.
Joseph, Abraham’s great grandson, had ten half brothers whom he alienated by bragging about dreams he had had where he was higher in power than they, and because he was his father’s favorite son, the brothers were all jealous and conspired to get rid of him and sell him to some Midianites. He was sent to Egypt and placed in the home of the ruler as a slave. However, the ruler’s wife desired Joseph and after many attempts to get his interest, she grabbed at his clothing, and he ran from the house. He was thrown in jail for his honorable actions. Two years later, he interpreted dreams of two of the other prisoners—and they came true. A few years after that, when the pharaoh had a disturbing dream, the released man remembered the prisoner who had interrupted his dream. Finally, after Joseph had persevered being an honorable man despite his circumstances, he was able to interpret the dream of the pharaoh and was elevated to a position of highness in the government. Joseph began preparing a storage system of keeping foods and grains since there was a famine going to happen. Joseph persevered and prepared.
Four hundred years after Joseph, the Israelites were still enslaved in Egypt when God raised Moses and told him to return to Egypt and go to Pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites. Once, Moses had all his arguments shattered by God, he went. He persevered asking Pharaoh to release the Israelites, and if he did not release them, Moses would tell them God would punish. Moses persevered each time God told him to return to Pharaoh with a new demand. I wonder how long a time this was. But for being shy, with low self esteem and doubting one’s ability at speech, Moses persevered in demanding the release of his people. Finally, Pharaoh caved and told the Israelites to “GO! LEAVE!”
But that was only a small portion of Moses’ perseverance. He took millions of people out in the desert, let alone the numbers of animals that traveled with them. But in a temper, Moses disobeyed God, striking a rock twice to get water, while God’s command had been to hit it once. Moses then persevered, leading the people and not delivering them to the Promised Land, only being allowed to see the land, for 40 years! Forty years he led them through the wilderness while they grumbled, complained, and sinned. But he did as God commanded—he persevered following God’s commands.
Ruth was a Moabite woman who married an Israeli man when the family moved to Moab during a famine. She was unfamiliar with many Jewish customs, but when her husband and the other males in the family died, she chose to go with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to return to Bethlehem in Jerusalem. Ruth willingly went to work gathering grain from fields to help feed her mother-in-law and herself. She persevered in helping Naomi, although unfamiliar with the area, with many customs, but she stood out as being selfless and persevering. She came under the protection of Boaz, and later she was part of the lineage of Jesus, being King David’s great grandmother.
David was about 18 years old when he killed Goliath and shortly after that, Samuel said Saul would be succeeded as king by David. David waited about 13 years, mostly living in the wilderness fighting and protecting people in the area while he waited, continually moving to escape Saul while he chased David. Then he was awarded kingship. But he believed in God and persevered in believing God’s word and promises. He did nothing to gain the kingdom before God’s time.
And although all of the apostles who lived after the death of Jesus persevered in spreading the Truth, and the Way and persevered in leading others to the Truth. They persevered in leading others to Christ and how His death was to free from the rules and laws of the OT. They continued to spread the stories of who Jesus was, the fact He rose from the dead, and He did all this to free us from sin, to become our Atonement for ALL of our sins. They each persevered to their death, their being martyred.
Paul was not an original apostle. In fact, he persevered in the persecution of those who chose to follow the Way, to claim Jesus as Messiah. He was responsible for several deaths and imprisonments. He was a devout rule follower, and anyone who did not follow the rules, he found fault with; and with those who chose to follow the Way, he persevered in punishing them.
When he had a meeting with Jesus—struck blind and told he was persecuting Him (Jesus). He was then commanded to tell the Gentiles about Jesus. He persevered in the study of the three years of Jesus’ ministry. He did a complete about face because he believed after ‘meeting’ Jesus and becoming blind. Then he persevered in leading all he met to Jesus and the sacrifice and reason for Jesus coming and the fact He was the atoning sacrifice for all. There is NO question that Paul persevered in spreading the Good News of Jesus to all he came across. Through beatings, whippings, boat wrecks, distain, and so forth, Paul continued to spread the wonderful news of Jesus to all. He wanted all to choose to believe and not risk dying and spending eternity in hell. He wanted all to know Jesus and be saved. Paul persevered and I am sure got his reward.
Lord, you have shown me perseverance with all these people–regular, normal persons like me. Yet, they continued to serve and worship You during difficult times. I want to have that courage and perseverance also. Thank You for loving and guiding me, improving me and ‘mybellaviews.’
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