Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
5/19/2021
The Gift and the Pain of Enduring!
I took my wife on a date night Friday night to listen to a comedic pastor talk about married life and in the process kept us howling from beginning to end. But he said one thing that really struck a chord to me. Are your children ready to brave the New World they are going into when they leave high school?
I have a daughter that enters college this year and another the following year. He said we need to move from commander to advisor. From telling them everything that they’re supposed to be doing, to helping them think through their own filters and finding the way that they should go. We have been doing that their whole lives, but I also believe we did way too much for them. Gave them too much. Saved them too swiftly and did not let them fail and feel the pain of that poor decision making. I believe we raised them to fear God and even showed them how to live but was it enough?
And is not that the way that we walk alongside other Christians, other peers? We don’t command them we advise them.
I am a typical male. I fix things. Even before my wife and girls finish telling me what they are going through, I’ve already got a plan to fix it and of course that isn’t what they’re looking for. They’re looking for somebody to listen and not rush to judgment. It is commonly that way with my children.
I think often times it’s so much easier just to fix the problem versus the patience that it takes to walk with them through it
I think the other side of that, for them, is they missed out on some enduring. A lot of decisions and situations require endurance. Anytime that we observe a child or a friend during a difficult time or struggle our merciful impulse is try to relieve that anguish. It is a loving impulse, and at times it’s exactly what we should do. But we must be careful and discerning because the Holy Spirit may be trying to give them the precious gift of endurance.
For Christians, developing endurance is essential. In Matthew 7:14 it says, “the way is hard that leads to life”. Or 1 Peter 4:12 “and fiery trials most certainly will befall us” and look at Hebrews 10:36 “you have need of endurance”. And Luke 21:19 “by your endurance you’ll gain your lives”. And finally, 2 Corinthians 4:17 & Philippians 3:8 “Gods promises to wash the eternal wait of glory of knowing and being known by Christ. But the promise has a crucial condition: our endurance.”
Endurance is a precious and loving gift God gives BUT we know how endurance is gained. PAIN. There is no way around it. We gain stamina of any kind by the discipline of forcing ourselves (or being forced) to push beyond our current limits and persevere through sometimes an agonizing experience or even a season of discomfort.
As a parent allowing such a thing to fall to our inexperienced graduates. Please don’t ask me to do that. Please let me save them!
(Oh lord, their even crying!)
So I ask what type of package would you expect God’s love and gift of endurance to arrive in? “One that seems pleasant vs one that is painful?” Hebrews 12:11 A season of discipline. Haven’t we all been there…done that?
So as a parent or maybe as the friend of a friend who is going through this, what will they do when you’re not around to command? It is often so much harder to be an influencer and let them work through their own decision making process. Or not.
Gods people from the beginning of time, have suffered various forms of persecution and social alienation, not unlike what is happening right now in America. We can go through these howling spiritual storms continually pressed by questions and doubts. And they and we, grow weary and discouraged at times even doubting their faith or that God really cares. Hebrews 2:1 and Hebrews 10:35–39.
If we listen carefully you will hear them risking the loss of the better and abiding possession that once had given them such joy. They are facing a clear and present danger. They needed encouragement, but the author knew they didn’t need the soft, consoling kind. He offered what they needed… a firm exhortation and he didn’t mince words. He warned them of the danger and said, Hebrews 10:36 “you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised!?
Then he encouraged them at length to faithfully endure. Chapter 11. Just as Jesus did. But finally reminded them again, that their affliction was a painful package containing God’s loving gift of endurance,
A gift he gives to all his children. Hebr 12:3-11
Will you not stop and pray with me one hours this week with your family for Pastor and those who are suffering emotionally or physically?
casting crowns Only Jesus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd3K2Fxp4&list=PL3oW2tjiIxvTstLS9GlgaT_mqONT0WVDw&index=18
Excerpts are taken from an article on Endurance from John Piper
