Perseverance

"That is why we never give up.  

Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  

For our present troubles are small and won't last very long.  

Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  

So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; 

rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  

For the things we see now will soon be gone, 

but the things we cannot see will last forever."

-2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Perseverance.

I remember when I learned that word.  My 8th grade English teacher used it to describe me after the Middle School County Championship softball game.  Leaving the dugout, I had been heading over to the on deck circle, talking to my teammate who was first up that inning and already there.  Unfortunately, she didn't hear me and decided to swing the bat just as I walked by.  Fortunately, I saw it coming and was able to block the bat from hitting my face.  Unfortunately, that meant my hand got smacked right on the metacarpal V (the bone connecting your pinky finger to all your little wrist bones).  Fortunately, later I found out it was not broken, just incredibly bruised.  In the meantime, however, I still had to bat and play catcher with an out of commission left (catching) hand.

I remember when I memorized those verses out of 2 Corinthians.  I was in a Chinese hospital going through something I would never wish upon anyone.  Basically I spent a month and a half in and out of three different Chinese hospitals and, at the time of memorization, I was in the middle of having a procedure done that I don't exactly recommend and also in the middle of my longest single stay.  It was about a week and a half and consisted of just about every test imaginable (without anesthesia), no food, and no Internet or global phone (only sporadic contact with the US when someone from my organization would Skype call my Chinese phone).  Eventually, this whole thing culminated in an unnecessary appendectomy all because I'm apparently intolerant of gluten.  Doesn't sound real does it?  I was being stretched in ways and having my limits tested more than ever before.  In some ways I still feel like I'm recovering from it.  I would be lying if I said it wasn't a traumatic experience that I'm still working out the repercussions of.  I am not the same.

"... Your strength comes from God's grace..." - Hebrews 13:9

But there is something good that I experienced to a greater degree than before: Spiritual food, the Word of God, sustained me in ways nothing else could.  I clung to my Bible; I clung to the promises of God.

"The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes.  

He is close to those who trust in him." - Nahum 1:7

God tells us that his grace is sufficient for us.  That he's all we need (2 Corinthians 12:9).  In verse 10 Paul states, "For when I am weak, then I am strong."  God shows up powerfully in our weaknesses to be our strength, to help us overcome.  Kind of like when I had that bashed up hand and my teammate "became" my second hand to get that victory cheeseburger into my mouth (we won by the way).  God is more than able to get us through whatever situation we're in.  Whether we be sick, hurting, lonely, forgotten, tired, anxious, overwhelmed, discouraged, frustrated, used, abused, hungry, thirsty, poor, persecuted, sad, mourning or anything else, God is mighty among us.

"The Lord says, 'I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you.'" - Psalm 32:8

"See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you..." - Ezekiel 36:9

"I will never fail you.  I will never abandon you." - Hebrews 13:5

I don't know about you but for me those words feel like a massive hug being wrapped around me.  It's God the Father holding me, whispering, "Don't worry, it'll be okay.  We're in this together."