You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

They needed to persevere; I need to persevere; and so do you. It is those who persevere to the end who will be saved.

I have long believed that perseverance (or endurance) is a seriously under-rated quality in the Christian life. (It’s been referred to as ‘stick-to-it-iveness’), It’s not spectacular. It doesn’t have connotations of spiritual fireworks. It’s just about putting one foot in front of another and keeping going.

The missionary pioneer, William Carey, said about himself: ‘If he give me credit for being a plodder he will describe me justly. Anything beyond that will be too much. I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.

Some days it is a noble and courageous thing to just get out of bed and carry on with life:

  • to be faithful for one more day in that challenging marriage;
  • to continue to love that oh so difficult relative;
  • to return to the workplace which causes you much stress and anxiety;
  • to press on with that ministry in which you feel unappreciated, taken for granted, and where there are few visible results.

How encouraging, then, to consider C.H. Spurgeon’s perceptively wonderful comment:

”By perseverance the snail made it to the ark.”