![]() As more and more of his securities are stripped away he becomes more and more committed to seeking God.ĭespite his wife’s insistence to turns his back on his faith, Job’s tenacity is rewarded when God reveals himself in full technicolour glory, making all Job’s practical struggles pale into insignificance in the light of his Lord. But Job shows immense determination to worship God through it all. Job suffers unimaginable loss in a very short period of time and his wife and friends are quick to offer advice. Perseverance, characterįrom an idyllic start, Job’s story in the bible goes downhill fairly quickly – the upright man with his blossoming family, vast farmstead and successful business. Maybe that’s what pain is for? To push us to find a deeper understanding of who God is. ![]() I’m sure those of you just back from the summer festivals can relate? Similarly, we come to a much greater realisation of our need for God’s strength and provision when we find ourselves facing a challenge that we’re not sure how to overcome. But there’s nothing like walking through a muddy field in wet shoes to make you realise just how much you did need those wellies after all. On the sunny days when you’re strolling happily through the fields, faith is easy. The kind of peace you feel when you’re out for a walk with a really good friend - no hard feelings between you, no awkward uncomfortable silences, just peace. We have been justified through faith so we can have that peace with God. This Romans passage offers a similar point to focus on: ‘Since we have been justified through faith, let us have peace with God through Jesus.’ Whatever the obstacle on this journey is, we can be assured that it’s not a result of a damaged relationship with God. Just get across and you can dry off in the sunshine as you wander through those fields. When setting out on the bear hunt, the one thing that makes it easy to wade through the river carrying your shoes and your picnic high over your head, is the rich grassy fields on the other side. It’s those moments, when we press on knowing that the goal is worth more than the struggle to get there, that suffering produces perseverance: tenacity, persistence, holding fast, refusing to give up. As the story goes, ‘We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, we’ve got to go through it.’ Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds us that we know that suffering produces perseverance. We discover skills we didn’t know we had and levels of energy or strength we hadn’t realised we were capable of. We learn that we can swish through fields of tall grass, stumble through dark forests or beat a path through a howling snow storm. ![]() That journey through the difficult bits takes us through new experiences. We can sit down, our journey stalled by the struggle ahead, or we can pull on our wellies and squelch on through. ![]() ![]() When we’re faced with suffering – our muddy field on the way to finding the bear – we have a choice about how we face it. For those of you not familiar with the story, a family set out on a bear hunt but their adventure is plagued with challenges, from long swishy grass to roaring rivers and even a snowstorm. In fact I often describe it as being one of the books that has been the most influential in my faith in recent years. One of my favourite books is Michael Rosen’s ‘ We’re going on a bear hunt’ (you can take the girl out of primary teaching but…). And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.’ Suffering produces perseverance Not only so, but let us also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance perseverance, character and character, hope. And let us boast in the hope of the glory of God. ‘Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. ![]()
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