“As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me.” — Psalm 55:16
The Importance of Endurance
When a rookie or a first-year coach starts their career, the initial excitement motivates a person to do well in the beginning, but it’s not easy to sustain enthusiasm for the long haul. Sometimes we become like frightened birds when the going gets tough. If we want to see birds up close, then we must be quiet and still. Birds are scared easily. When they take off, we may hear a whistling sound because they fly so quickly.
When we face trouble, we sometimes want to fly away to a faraway place. The Psalmist was honest about his fears. “I said, ‘Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm” (Psalm 55:6-8). After David thought for a moment, he regained his courage by thinking about God. “As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me” (Psalm 55:16).
If we retreat every time we face difficulty, then we won’t get an education, have a career or maintain lasting relationships. When we live for God, then we won’t run away or hide. Even though Joseph, son of Jacob, was mistreated by his own brothers, he patiently endured hardship and God eventually rewarded him. “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace” (Acts 7:9-10).
Through God’s power, we are overcomers. By faith, men and women in the Bible “shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword … became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (Hebrews 11:33-34). Therefore, Paul exclaimed, “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
— Bill Kent, Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, Sylvania, Ga.
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