There is a song that goes "Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me...and on, and on, and on, and on it goes..." It is ironic because this song seems to repeat over and over, much like that songs that never ends. But that is exactly how God's love is for us. It goes on and on and on and on. It never gives up. Love endures all things, and God's love endures forever. (Psalm 136)
James 1:2-4 says "Consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
What this tells us is that persevering through any trial, even those in love, will not be in vain. Persevering is to remain, to not run. It isn't easy to make it through hard patches. Consider some things to remember when those times come:
- Lean on God. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to not trust our own understanding, but to lean into Him and everything will become clear. When we try to make sense of things, nothing makes sense. When we use our own earthly perspective to unravel the knots of the mess we are in, we lose perspective. When we consider bailing from our hardships, whether in life or in relationships, we are bailing on what God is calling us to do. If we can just remember that God's got it and simply follow His leading, we can handle the hardships with a little more hope.
-Let go of your plans. We all know that life never goes as planned, so why do we try to live like it will? We need to remember to allow our time, resources, etc. to be flexible. We can never see a crisis coming, but we can try to roll with what we can in not grasping too tightly to things, including the things we treasure most. The only thing this world can't take is your faith if you truly have Christ in your life. Cling to that like your life depends on it.
- Those hardships won't last forever. They will feel like they are going to last forever or that they are, but we can hold onto the hope that this world isn't the end all. (Remember our conversation about hope yesterday?) We can look forward to a reward for our suffering. (1 Peter 2:18-20)
On the flip side of persevering in love, we need to remember to give all we have to Christ. There may be days we just don't want to serve anymore or carry on with our faith anymore because it feels like a lot, but we need to remember His love is light. It doesn't mean life is light, but He will carry you. A poem by Jill Briscoe inspires me as we consider carrying on in our faith without ever stopping. Half of "All the Way Home" below:
"Saw a cross alone, discarded
Lain at rest against a wall,
Who'd lain down such a holy symbol?
Who'd abandoned life's 'faith call'?
Then a voice so dear - familiar,
Asked a question - pierced me through,
Who is it that you're expecting
Carrying it home for you?
How could I lay down that crossbeam?
How to think that no one saw?
Who did I expect to lift it
Carry it to heaven's door?
'Jesus, Jesus, please forgive me,
Carried Thou your cross for me,
All the way to hell to save us,
Help me carry mine for Thee!'
I'm no hero - special woman
Just a lady, old and gray,
But my cross, Lord, I will carry,
Home, Lord, home, Lord - All the way!"
Love endures through all things. No matter how hard something gets, persevere on. Nothing shows love to a hurting person more than sticking around through the hard times, shameful times, and less than wonderful times.
Scripture to Read:
James 1:2-4, Proverbs 3:5-6
Questions to Ponder:
Have you ever wanted to quit at loving someone, or carrying on with a hardship?
How can you rely on God in times that are hard?
How does knowing God's got it and has a grander plan beyond what we can ever see help you in getting through the struggles?
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