I love words!
Words in general but mainly God’s word. That wasn’t always the case though. There were many years of running from God’s word as well as utter confusion over it.
As my faith grew I decided to pray for a hunger and thirst for God’s word. I asked for my heart and mind to receive clarity and take it all in. As usual, God is faithful and I love to dig into His word now.
At different times I will read “wide” and devour a lot of words at one time. Other times I really dig “deep” and meditate on a verse or even one word.
The word I keep coming back to as for this new year is “persevere”. God is calling me to follow through on what I’ve started. I’ve let fear and perfectionism stifle me for way too long. I want to follow through on the dreams God has planted in my heart.
Of course I want to steadfastly persist in my God given purpose. Don’t you? It doesn’t mean it’s easy and we will face obstacles and difficulties.
[Tweet “With God we CAN persevere because of the hope we have in Him.”]
As I studied the word persevere I discovered one of the definitions of it in Greek is endurance.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. Romans 3-4 (NLT)
The work God has set before each of us calls for endurance. We can’t operate in our own power to will this endurance into being. We can try but it’s exhausting! I speak from experience.
This kind of endurance only comes through connecting with the power Jesus has promised us. [Tweet “We have to allow the Holy Spirit in to help us persevere and endure inspite of difficulties.”]
So how do we do this in a practical way?
We know struggles and setbacks will come. We know how easy it is to get discouraged and lose hope when they do. So how do we fight off the discouragement?
[Tweet “When we need to do the next right thing remember the choice is simple even if it’s not easy.”]
There’s no need to overthink it or write out our pro’s and con’s list. (Anyone else like a good list! Yes, that’s me raising my hand right here.) Just make the choice to grab hold of scriptures to remind us God is with us.
We have the choice to run to Him in prayer instead of trying to tackle it in our power. “Lord, I can’t do this without you. I’ve tried. Give me your strength to make the next right choice. Help me to trust You as I persevere in what you’ve called me to do. In the name of Jesus, amen.”
What we do in the here and now matters!
We need to persevere in living our lives in a way that glorifies God. Please hear me on this, I’m not saying striving to be good enough. It’s not possible. I’m saying our lives are often our best sermon so live it in a way that others will want to know where your hope comes from!
Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.1 Timothy 4:14-16 (NLT)
I’m praying with you friend. Through Christ we can continue to move forward this year in the call He’s put on each of our lives.
Where is God calling you to persevere this year? Share in the comments so we can hold each other up.
I’m sharing this post with several other blogger’s at these Faith Linkups. I encourage you to check them out. If this post resonates with you and feel it would help others please feel free to share. Easy to share buttons below. ~Laura~
I feel God is calling me to persevere to see VICTORY this year! I’ve been persevering for a long time and sense this is that breakthrough year. Thanks for the encouragement to persevere more. Such wise words.
~Sherry Stahl
xoxo
That’s awesome Sherry! I’m believing for breakthrough and victory this year as well. Blessings to you.
Laura, thanks for sharing a word in due season! This may sound crazy, but this year my word is WAIT. I’ve been chasing a lot of rabbits for the last two years. God spoke to my heart and said it’s time to focus and wait. It’s the end of January and I’m already discovering that waiting, too, requires a lot of perseverance, perseverance and discernment. Thanks for linking arms in faith!
Yes, waiting definitely requires perseverance. I’ve been in the waiting season several times and it can be tough. Glad the word spoke to you. Blessings to you.
Persevere is a great word to focus on. Any time that we can stay up under the situation God has for us, the more blessings we will eventually see.
Amen to that Lisa! Blessings to you.
Laura, This was a very encouraging post because I struggle with perfectionism, too. These are timely words for me as I work on persevering through being a new writer and sharing my struggles openly. It’s a tough road to walk sometimes! Thank you for sharing and lifting us up!
I hear you Leslie, it’s a tough road sometimes. So thankful God walks it with us. We can do it through Him. Praying for you. Thanks so much for stopping by and blessings to you.
Great reflections, Laura! I sense that the Lord is calling me to persevere in the daily grind of life; the meals, the laundry, homeschooling… and He reminds me that everything I do is for His glory! I love that passage in Galatians about not growing weary; I just shared that with a friend this week who needed encouragement in her situation. We all need those reminders to stay the course and persevere! Thanks for sharing! (visiting from #momentsofhope)
Thanks Christin. Yes, everything for His glory. So glad we have fellow believer’s to help remind us to stay the course. Blessings to you.