How to Persevere Through the Pandemic

Stick with it we’re told. And for good reason. Intertwined with most success stories are examples of people who have an amazing ability to persevere through impossible circumstances. If you’ve ever waited, and waited, for your day to come you understand the difficulty in patiently waiting on ____________ (fill in your blank.) Count yourself blessed!

Really.

“As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” James 5:11

If you are like me you may be thinking, but Lord, I don’t want to be blessed like Job. He went through a whole lot of you know what to be “blessed.”  It’s not the end result we fear, it’s the figuring it out along the way.

It’s painful.
It’s unpredictable.
And it’s messy.

The Answer.

Fortunately, God has the answer to make it through our painful, unpredictable and messy circumstances. The easy answer is faith. We throw that word around as is if it is the cure-all for everything we’re waiting on. Frankly, I get tired of people telling me, “Just have faith.”

I have faith my friend. I just don’t always know what to do with it. James 2:17 reminds us that “faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Before I get into what we should be doing with our faith, I want to make sure we understand that there is nothing we can do to earn salvation. Our salvation is secured by what God did for us, not what we do for him. However, the follower of Christ should show up – and follow. That’s what we do with our faith. We follow Christ in obedience. Our “action” is in obeying God’s Word.

So, when it comes to perseverance there are some distinct instructions in James 5:7-12 for what we should be doing as we get through the tough stuff. In a nutshell, be patient, stand firm, get along with each other, and speak truth.

How are we doing with perseverance during the pandemic?

Be patient – check.
Stand firm – double-check.
Get along with each other…
Speak What?

Speak Truth.

We applaud our patience as we wait for life to go back to some semblance of normal and there is no shortage of standing firm, but what about getting along and speaking truth? There are so many opinions floating around we don’t even know what or whom to believe. We may be standing firm in our truth but forgetting that in order to get along with each other we must stand firm in God’s truth.

When we take a look back at those who are an example of patience in the face of suffering (James 5:10), we are reminded that the prophets spoke in the name of the Lord.  Their message to people in times of pain and suffering pointed people to God.  Our message should be pointing people to God too. And we can’t let standing firm in our truth get in the way of getting along. Most of us would pick patience as our biggest downfall when called to persevere, but I would challenge each of us to think about how equally important getting along and humbly speaking truth are to our own success. Or more importantly, to the success of the Kingdom.

Perhaps we are too worried about being right and standing firm in our version of the truth when the actions of our faith should be telling a different story. To answer my own question, “What should we be doing with our faith” as we persevere through seemingly impossible circumstances – we should stand firm in our faith, patiently waiting on the compassion and mercy of the Lord, all while getting along with each other.

And what about that truth we’ve been talking about?

Everybody is searching for truth during this time of pandemic. Rest assured, I’d like to have some answers to my stay-at-home questions too. It’s important to educate yourself about what is going on in the world so that you can make wise decisions for you and your family. But is it important to “educate” everyone else?

Be Blessed.

When Christ spoke to the disciples and the crowds during his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), he was speaking to people from all walks of life.  The disciples came to him – to hear the truth. But what he gave them was more of an unexpected lesson on unlikely blessings than a speech about the times. Jesus was traveling and speaking right where trade and politics were the focus, yet he chose to share the truth of the gospel.

It probably sounded crazy. Jesus started with what’s called the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek and merciful? The list goes on. What about my pride, and personal independence, my happiness and my needs? Right here Jesus teaches to lay it all aside; rejoice and be glad because there is a great reward in following him.

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12)

“Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

He said:

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Be Salty.

That reward seems pretty far off in the middle of our persevering. Jesus follows up with why we need to have the kind of faith with action that speaks love. It’s not just about our blessings and rewards, it’s about letting your light shine so that others may experience what you have in Christ. You see, if we “lose our saltiness” (Matthew 5:13-16), we lose our effectiveness.

Let’s be salty for the gospel. Nothing else. Our light will shine much brighter to a world that is looking for truth. Let them see your good deeds that are a result of your faith. Your perseverance will be blessed and our Father in heaven will be glorified.