Colossians 1:10-11
And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and you may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ...”
When we decided to live fully for Christ Jesus, whether we knew it or not, we also determined to endure all that comes against us—the world, the flesh and the devil—and to overcome all that is not of Him in us.
Endurance by its very nature requires an element of resistance; it needs some form of opposition to push through. Without it, we do not grow. Without resistance Godly character is not developed.
This endurance tests our willingness to persevere in the face of opposition, where we stand firm until the obstacles that are sent to resist us and keep us from our goal are overcome.
Endurance is always meant to move us beyond our accepted or perceived limitations. It is only needed when we have come to the end of our abilities and resources, when we have “hit the wall.”
At “the wall,” we come to our place of limitations. It is the place where we have to move beyond our limitations; this is where we draw on inner resources that we have not tested before.
“The wall” is also the place of decision, where we either go on, or quit. Quitting means that we have settled for whatever is at hand. However, when we decide to “go on,” we “willfully” determine to endure the resistance inherent in the process of overcoming.
This is the place where faith replaces knowledge, where we trust in God’s ability and abandon our own. Faith is always that area where we persevere, endure, push through.
However, once we break through, we no longer need to endure; we have now moved into a “new knowing,” that now becomes part of who we are. Faith has moved us into new levels endurance and therefore into new levels of growth.
God has made us to endure, since that is the place of growth and character development. When we do, He moves us from “glory to glory,” perfecting us continually by divine molding into the image of Christ.
2Timothy 2:3, 12
“Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
12 If we endure, we will also reign with him,...”
