Perseverance

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.  ~ James 1:1-7

1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^a have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^b rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we^c also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  ~ Romans 5:1:1-4

I teach my students to interpret scripture by scripture and as I was reading I noticed these two sections of scripture are very similar.  They both basically say the same thing about trials/suffering and perseverance. James says trials test your faith and can produce perseverance and Paul said in his letter to the Romans that suffering produces perseverance.  Actually James explains the trial or suffering in you is a testing of your faith which produces perseverance.

So what's perseverance and why is it important to me? Well dictionary.com defines perseverance as a steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state,etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.  It is important that we steadily persist in a certain course of action especially when the course of action is following Christ.  This reminds me of the scripture, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do."~ Galatians 6:9.  May we not become weary and keep persevering.

There was a time in my life when I was working 3 jobs and raising three children as a single mom each evening and there was much weariness in my life.   It was a very difficult time and I remember collapsing on the couch one evening exhausted physically, emotionally and spiritually and laying my 10 year old daughters hands on my shoulder asking her to pray for mommy as she was very tired.  There was a strength that came over me as she prayed.  I thank The Lord for that prayer and was able to continue with joy. I also made some changes with my jobs soon after which was also an answer to prayer. 

As we see in the scriptures above perseverance has a purpose, it's not just going on for nothing.  James said you will be mature and complete, not lacking anything and Paul says you will produce character and character, hope. So we can be sure character is involved with being mature and there is hope in our lives because of Christ. He does not disappoint. 

James also says God will also give wisdom to those who ask which also brings character, however this is also something that takes faith. As you see he says if you doubt when you ask, you are like a wave blown and tossed by the wind. Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do to see (Hebrews11:1).  Growing in character takes a testing of your faith.  Are you going to trust The Lord for maturity and character as you persevere in hope?  Rest in Him knowing that He loves you and knows what you need before you even ask Him. Rest knowing He wants you to persevere in Him.