Endurance through Hope

 1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. - 1 John 5:1-4

In life we learn that nothing is for free. Everything has a cost and something must be given for another thing to be received. However, many of us always try to take the easy way out or find the short cut. We lack the desire to endure hardship. We want whats in front of us and we want it now. Our patience is of a lab rat lookin for cheese and our vision lacks to see that if we endured only if we went through the hardship there is freedom just beyond the mountain we must climb.

The devil I think does a great job of putting the world in our faces and we forget that everything takes work. The devil just hands us the cheap gift and because its so easy for us to obtain we snatch it straight from his hand in utter happiness not knowing that we just sold our freedom for the cost of the devils cheap gift. When I was in China I was at one of the top 3 hotels in all of Shang Hai. As soon as I walked in 15 beautiful chinese girls lined up one took my bags and the rest bowed and welcomed me. Everywhere I went they called me Sir and opened all the doors and pressed all the buttons for me to get to my room. Then my room was on the 15th floor and my sheets were made out of gold fabric with a beautiful dark mahagony bed post. I looked outside into Pudong district of Shang Hai and I felt like Jesus when he was tempted 3 times by the Devil and one of the temptations was of the world. Devil shows Jesus the world and says everything you see all the glimers and the riches I will make it yours.

That night I laid in bed and I felt God ask me, David would you give this all up for me? The paycheck, the house, the comfort, and all the riches that I can bless you with would you give it all up and go into the mountains of Africa with one bottle of water and live in a tent again? Can you do it? I hope and pray that my answer will always be a resounding "YES". That I would never lose the idea of what treasure endurance will bring. That I would never become so blinded and so weak that I can not endure hardships.

I am able to endure through hope, hope in Christ, that He has already won this race for me and I just follow his footsteps. God many times shows us two things. He shows us where we are and where we must go, but everything else in between the endurance that needs to be lived out it is obedience and faith. But I believe because we know, that our God is Good and He is in control of all things we can put a smile on our face and live out the hardship in peace because His yoke is light.

My grad school, my relationships, my ministry, my work, and all things God has put into my life I will endure because He who went before me has endured.