Conquer Hard Times by Learning to Endure - Part I

The current recession in America--and difficult living circumstances in many other nations--call for growth in character in all of our lives. One of the greatest qualities we need in abundance is perseverance--the ability to endure. This is even a necessary requirement for salvation. Jesus said that those who endure to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13).

When we were living in Washington, D.C. many years ago, I rubbed shoulders with a Christian leader who was at that time the main spokesman for moral renewal in our country.

Jerry Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, catapulted into national prominence through the birthing of the Moral Majority in the mid-1970s. He struck a chord in the nation's conscience with a call to a return to traditional moral values and a reliance upon God.

For a number of years, he was probably the most loved and hated man in America. Personally, I found him to be humble, sincere, articulate, and deeply committed. We didn't agree on everything. But on the essentials for rebuilding our culture, our hearts were certainly linked together.

One evening he spoke at a rally in an elegant Washington hotel. I don't remember the details of his speech, but I'll always remember one line from it. He said, "The true greatness of an individual is always proportionate to his willingness to endure testing."

At that time, Jerry Falwell was being attacked and maligned by the American press and political left. He passed his test by living out the character quality of perseverance by patiently standing firm in battle in the public arena.

Every great man has to pass the same test. So do all followers of the Lord Jesus. For perseverance is not just a mark of greatness. It's the fifth pillar of Christian character found in II Peter 1:6: "And to your self-control, add perseverance." Let's take a look at the pivotal quality of perseverance or endurance.

 LIVE BY YOUR WILL--NOT BY YOUR EMOTIONS

 At first I had a hard time understanding the difference between self-control and perseverance. Didn't both involve the will? Aren't each a disciplined choice?

Both do involve a choice, but they have a different meaning. Self-control has to do with restraint exercised over one's own impulses. Perseverance involves remaining steadfast despite opposition. Many times perseverance means that you must be willing to wait. It means not acting hastily or impetuously.

Perseverance is honed through determination and discipline--attributes forged during the hard, battle-weary moments of our lives when we encounter life's harshest tests.

These tests can be physical or mental and include the whole gamut of human experience, such as:

- broken relationships, friendships, divorce

- accusation, persecution, and outright slander

- broken health, bodily pain, and suffering

- physical limitations and handicaps

- prejudice and bigotry; cruelty and injustice

- loss of a loved one, a job, or a dream

- loneliness, depression, lack of self-esteem

- or even lacking a sense of destiny and purpose

When painful circumstances such as these come upon us, we are faced with a choice to hold on and endure or give in to our feelings and emotions.

Most of us would rather go along with our feelings. If we feel like going to a movie, we go. If we feel like eating something, we do (whether we're on a diet or not). If we feel like taking a nap, we put off that job around the house.

When we become believers, we bring the habit of living by our feelings into our new life in Christ. If we don't feel like praying, we don't. When we don't feel like going to church, we don't. If we don't feel like going out in evangelism, we find an excuse.

Emotions are a wonderful part of our God-given personality, but they were never designed to be the guiding force in our lives. The "engine" of our lives was always meant to be our will.

I believe that God desires to train our will to guide our lives through learning endurance in some of the physical areas of life. Once we learn to persevere in bodily disciplines, we can apply the same lessons to the spiritual and mental realm.

Let's look at one very practical area where perseverance must be learned. We can thank Adam and Eve for this arena of training.

WORK

Most people need to work to survive. The need to work forces us to set alarm clocks, pull ourselves out of bed when we're still tired, battle traffic or nature, and deal with diverse personalities and circumstances.

By eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve passed on to all their descendants both the curse and the blessing of work. In Genesis 3:17-19, God said:

"So I will put a curse on the ground, and you will have to work very hard for your food. In pain you will eat its food all the days of your life....You will sweat and word hard for your food. Later you will return to the ground."

Hard work, including sweat and pain, is a result of God's cursing the ground following the original sin of mankind. But like most judgments, the pain and labor of work contain a gracious silver lining: By learning to work hard, man develops patience and endurance. This quality of perseverance is both a restraint on sin (can you imagine how much evil would be in the world if people didn't have to work everyday?) and a builder of character.

A case in point is the courageous example of my own father.

My dad, Dr. Robert Boehme, grew up during the Depression of the 1930s. His father, Herman, worked two eight-hour shifts in the rubber factories of Ohio to put food on the table for a family of eight. From his earliest memories, my dad wanted to become a doctor. But he wondered how he could ever afford to go to medical school. Also, as the eldest son, he knew that his family needed his help just for survival.

His only answer was to embrace a discipline of hard work. For a number of years he worked in a rubber factory all night, went to college during the morning, studied all afternoon, slept for two hours, then went back to work again.

He did this five days a week for years. He eventually graduated with honors, became a family physician, and built up one of the largest medical practices in the state of Washington.

I learned perseverance from his example. One year he and I sheet rocked our new home together just six weeks after he had open-heart bypass surgery. He never stopped moving. After a ten-minute lunch break, he'd rise to his feet and say, "It's time to get going."  Crankily, I would gulp down my remaining bites and try to keep up with this "hard working German."

One day while we were working, he cut his leg very deeply with a saw. I tried to no avail to persuade him to go to the emergency room. He wouldn't even listen to my pleas. After a brief shouting match between us, he managed to stop the bleeding by wrapping duct tape around his thigh. (What could I say? He was the doctor.)  He simply said, "There's no time to stop."  When he went home that night, he sewed himself up in his bathroom.

I learned to persevere at work through the example of my dad and many others. When you learn endurance in the working world, you can apply that valuable quality to many areas of your life. Knowing how to work hard is critical to surviving difficult circumstances.

Next week we will look at two other areas where endurance can be learned. They will also help us to conquer hard times through learning to endure.