Perseverance is the ability to endure hardship or to persist in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving successs – a necessary and useful quality to have, but not one we generally like to talk about! Perseverance lacks glamour. It’s the ordinary ability to keep on doing something with determination even when you don’t particularly feel like doing it. It’s having a steadfast spirit which focuses on what is right, not what is convenient or expedient.
Perseverance is needed to achieve anything worthwhile, whatever skill or duty we are called to do. Whether it’s learning to swim or any other form of exercise, eating moderately, learning to play an instrument or to knit or sew, we need to learn to persevere if we are to achieve mastery of these things. Even if we are naturally talented in a field, mastery only comes with the regular discipline of practice and patience.
Many suppose that a life of faith is all about miracles, with God waving a magic wand for us to remove all obstacles. It comes as quite an unpleasant surprise, therefore, to find that suffering produces perseverance and that perseverance is the road which leads to character (Rom 5:1-4, James 1:2-4). Miracles are definitely a part of the life of faith, but there are times when God works through suffering, difficulities and trials to shape who we are.
Peter talks about virtues we need to add to our lives. He tells us that God’s divine power has given us (past tense) everything we need to live for Him (2 Pet 1:3) and talks about His ‘very great and precious promises‘ which sustain us. (2 Pet 1:4) But he then tells us to ‘make every effort’ to add to our faith goodness and knowledge and self-control and perseverance (and goes on to add mutual affection and love to the list.) (2 Pet 1:5-7) These, he says, are the qualities which stop us from living ineffective lives. (2 Pet 1:8)
Self-control and perseverance involve us making right choices on a consistent basis. Making right choices involves continual practice. Perseverance is what is needed to keep on doing the right thing. Heb 10:36 says, ‘You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what the Lord promised.’
My granddaughter recently received her 5 metres swimming certificate. After almost four years of weekly lessons, she proved that she could swim without armbands. It has taken a long time and much persistence to get to this point, and her excitement and joy when she achieved this to the satisfaction of her teacher were infectious; she literally jumped for joy. Her beaming face told the story of the benefits of perseverance. We too have the promise of a great reward if we persevere: ‘Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.’ (James 1:12) So let’s keep going!
