Life is full of pain, heartache and disappointment, and easy, trouble-free days are rare. Enduring through trials with a grateful, patient spirit cannot be done without help. Lean hard into the Lord who gives the endurance and encouragement you need to persevere through life’s hardships.
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Just what does it mean to “endure” suffering?
Well hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and it’s a question someone recently posted on my Facebook page. One of my followers wrote, “Joni, I am always blessed by your postings. But there is a question that has been nagging at me that maybe only you can understand: “What does it mean to ‘endure suffering’? I’m asking every person I think who is a Christian because I need clarification on this. ‘To endure’ sounds like drudgery, and I thought the Christian life was supposed to be joyful? Thank you for helping me to understand this.”
That’s a simple question, and so let me try to give a simple answer. Let me say up front, life in Christ should never, ever be a drudgery, no matter what. To endure suffering should not be a chore or a grind, like, “Aw, man, I can’t believe I’ve got to face this; I gotta go through this again!” But that’s often the case, isn’t it. That’s the way we respond. Most people – even most Christians – want “life as we like it.” We want life to be a long string of comfortable days with only an occasional hard, painful day. Life should be easy, and suffering should be rare. But you know what? In truth, it’s the other way around. Life is, for the most part, a long string of unmet expectations, interrupted plans, disappointments, injuries, misunderstandings, bruised feelings, pain, and heartache. It is the easy, breezy, bright days that are rare. Suffering is hard wired into this broken world, and because of that we must learn to endure.
For instance, it is good to be patient in a trial, but what if that trial does not end? What if it is a day in and day out trial? What if your suffering is chronic? Well, you need patience over the long haul, don’t you? Well, when you show patience in trial after trial, day after day, that’s what we call “endurance.” Endurance is simply patience proved over time. As I always like to say, “It takes faith to embrace a trial, but it takes endurance to keep embracing that trial time and again.” It’s what I do every day in this wheelchair. But I certainly can’t do it myself. Endurance requires help from on high, and I find that help in Romans 15:5. It literally says that God is the one who gives endurance and encouragement. Do you need encouragement? Are you looking for help when it comes to slugging it out through one trial after the next? Well, God is the one who gives what you need, right there in Romans 15. He gives endurance.
But it depends on our response. Do we face our trials begrudgingly? Or do we endure it with a heartfelt, hopeful spirit? Oh, friend, I’ve learned over these years in my chair, my wheelchair, that when you endure with a grateful spirit, it changes your life; it changes your outlook. Best of all, it changes your heart. So today, if you are needing help in handling your trials, turn to Romans 15:5, and lean hard into the God who gives endurance and encouragement. And when you have a minute, visit joniradio.org and ask for more help. Because I want to give you one of my favorite books by Elisabeth Elliot called “A Path Through Suffering.” It’s my gift to you, especially if you’re lacking patience in your trials, or if you are in need of encouragement and endurance. It’s yours for the asking, so jump online at joniradio.org, and ask for your book today. Supplies are limited, so let me hear from you soon. And remember, it takes faith to embrace a trial, but it takes endurance to keep embracing it time and again. Find help in doing that at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends