Perseverance

I’ve been challenged recently that God is the god of small things that become great in his kingdom. It’s very easy to become discouraged when we don’t see change, or it seems that what we do at work is fine but God doesn’t seem to be in it…Yet God sees things differently and I’ve come to realize the truth of Matthew 10:29:"What's the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head!

Although this passage teaches us that we are so valuable to God, I think it also gives a glimpse of our world as God sees it – EVERYTHING, however small and insignificant, is valuable.

1. And so I think we need to encourage one another to persevere:
Romans 5:1 - 2 Peace and Joy:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a]have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

2. It’s a good thing to persevere: 2 Thessalonians 1:4 – perseverance is praised You need to know, friends, that thanking God over and over for you is not only a pleasure; it's a must. We have to do it. Your faith is growing phenomenally; your love for each other is developing wonderfully. Why, it's only right that we give thanks. We're so proud of you; you're so steady and determined in your faith despite all the hard times that have come down on you. We tell everyone we meet in the churches all about you. The Message

3. We gain eternal life. Romans 2:7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

4. It’s part of a growth process, a development of our characters: 2 Peter 1:5-7 (New International Version)

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

The Message says:
So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.

5. We are told to PURSUE endurance or perseverance
1 Timothy 6:10-12 But you, man of God, … pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

6. We need hope to persevere. Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Steadfast hope, the confident expectation of what God is and will do, gives the capacity to endure with joy. Again, the Lord Jesus is our example and the perfect illustration of one whose endurance was connected with joy and the purposes and promises of God. Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus gives us hope. Keeping focused on him can help us persevere at work, through discouragement as others ignore or make fun of us, or we feel isolated as perhaps the only Christians. God is a great god. Jesus was a ‘small thing’ in terms of the whole universe. God is a god of small, but immensely and eternally important, things.