Friday, January 9, 2015

Faithful Endurance

Scripture Text: Genesis 8; Genesis 9; Matthew 24:36-44

Faithfulness to God and the plan of God often takes endurance. For Noah and his family the time in the ark was far more than just 40 days. Instead it was closer to a year they shared the boat with every creature in all creation. Can you imagine the stench that was inescapable? Day after day all they could see when the looked out the windows was water.

After they left the boat God used Noah and his family for the great purpose of starting over in creation. After the endurance of following through on the call of God, the reward was being used by God for one of the most important do overs in all human history. What would have happened if Noah had simply given up after the first three months?

Whether it was Noah or a follower of Jesus Christ as we read about in Matthew, following after the call of God requires us to have keen focus and a strong resolve. There has never been a promise that this was going to be an easy journey. The temptation will be high to give up at some point but we must resist and move through the struggles so that we might someday enjoy being used by God for a great purpose.

Anyone who tells you that marriage is always easy is not really paying attention. Struggle lurks at many turns. There is the challenge of two people sharing life together with a willingness to subordinate their desires for the sake of the other. Then there is just all the real world "stuff" that comes up as we journey. Work struggles, financial challenges, loss of loved ones, and many other points of struggle that impact the marriage journey. There will be times when giving up seems like a possibility.

We decided before we were married that divorce was not an option for us. We recognize there are situations and circumstances that divorce is the best road forward, however that is rare and something we will do all we can to avoid. The decision to remove divorce from the equation means that we have to have faithful endurance through the challenges. We need to trust that God is working something that is greater than we can see or understand.

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