Persevere
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. Genesis 8:22
I was reading my daily devotional when the word persevere was used to describe how we are to continue in our relationship with God. I love when the Holy Spirit prompts us. He said, “What does persevere mean?” Past experience has taught me that even if I think I know what the word means, when promoted by the Holy Spirit, I need to look up the word. I knew this would be a teaching moment. For the word says all Scripture is “...breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…”2 Timothy 3:16-17.
Persevere: continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success.
I looked up the word persevere and my thoughts reflected on the part of the definition that said, “with little or no prospect of success”. Immediately this scripture came to me: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” Genesis 8:22. When we continue to do what God has given us even when it appears there is no progress, progress will come. We know that we cannot see the seed in the ground growing to produce fruit, but it happens. When we sit with God and feel like nothing is happening, God is working. Just because we cannot see or feel Him does not mean nothing is happening. Continue to sit with Him!
We all know this to be true but our spirits can grow impatient in the waiting. Think about being in high school. When we entered that freshman year it seemed like 12th grade was so far away. As freshmen we thought we would never get there. But before we actually realized it, Senior year came - it was our harvest time - and went.
And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how” Mark 4:26-27.
We can’t usually see the harvest in the ground. Many times, we have no idea how things will work out. But if we just keep with God, He has already worked things out in our favor.
My husband and I were government employees which means we had a substantial salary. However, we would witness our relatives who made quite a bit more money than us take vacations all over the world. We always wanted to take our children on these lavish vacations but our circumstances and income prevented that from happening.
But as we continued in the work God had given us, He made a way! To our surprise God made a way for us to retire before those relatives who earned quite a bit more. He also has given us the opportunity to take those really nice vacations with our children. We have no idea how God did this but we stayed faithful to what He put in front of us to do.
It’s easy to stop, but if we do, the harvest will never come. If I stop watering my garden even though the harvest is right there in my hands I will never see it because I stopped. Don’t stop, persevere!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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