Patience versus perseverance March 26, 2009

Last week, I was listening to a sermon where Hebrews 12:1 was referenced. I commited this verse to memory years ago at InterVarsity, back in my college days at good ole’ JMU. (Go Dukes!)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every thing that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” -Hebrews 12:1

So, when the speaker referenced the verse, he used a different translation.

You know how you can hear the same verse a million times, and then a different translation totally opens up the text in a new way?

I’m sort of a die hard NIV-er, I guess. I’m not sure which translation the speaker was quoting, but the verse finished, “…let us run with patience the race marked out for us.” I stumbled over it, of course, since I knew it by heart another way. 

Then I stumbled over it again. Patience? What?

I made eyes at my husband, who must think I’m a little nutty. (I am, for the record.)

How come patience shows up in this verse? This passage is all about the race. Perseverance wins the race! Isn’t patience what the people need who are watching on the sidelines? If you’re in the race, you should be in it to win it. When I think of running a race to win, I don’t think about patience. Maybe I should.

Patience sounds so…passive. Perseverance sounds much more like the attribute you should exhibit in a race; more like the word the writer should be using. So, I went into a lexicon and looked it up. What exactly was the writer trying to say in this original text?

Turns out the original Greek word translates as “perseverance, endurance, patience.” So, both translations are entirely right.

How is it that one word can have two very different meanings? And how is it that I’d resigned myself to persevere through this race, but given little thought to running the race with patience, until now?

In case you’re like me, and you’ve memorized this verse in the familiar NIV language, it’s worth noting that we’re exhorted to persevere, endure, and have patience…all at once. I don’t know how that works out in your life, but for me…it’s a tall order.

Impossible Situations March 19, 2009

In John 6, as John recounts the story we call the feeding of the 5000, Jesus asks an interesting question:

“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.”            – John 6:5-6

Somehow, for all the times I’ve read and studied this passage, I’ve missed this question. The passage tells us that Jesus asks the question for a specific reason: to test Philip.

So, Philip gets all worked up about it. (We can’t fault him. You know that’s exactly what we’d do, too!) He tells Jesus that 8 months wages wouldn’t buy enough bread for each person present to have a bite.

Did Philip fail Jesus’ test?

Sometimes in life, I feel like the answer must be coming, but the situation before me seems impossible. Implausible. Unbelievable. I feel like if I had many more resources, I still could not accomplish the task. It can be frustrating, because although I am sure that God is working something on my behalf, I don’t always see His hand.

Is it possible that, through each difficult situation, God is pausing for a moment so that I can grasp how fully impossible it would be to effect the desired outcome on my own? So that I can grapple with just how far my own resources fall short to meet the present need?

When Jesus asked the question of Philip, we must remember that he already had in mind what he would do. Jesus already knew that a miracle was required. He seems to want the disciples to fully comprehend the need for a miracle, as well.

Perhaps sometimes God is allowing us to grasp the full need for a miracle on our behalf; the time to survey the situation, the grace to recognize our own inability to remedy it, and the opportunity to look to Him to see what He already has in mind. Each day, I am realizing more and more my full reliance on Him. How is that working out in your life?

Colliding with the Love of Jesus March 18, 2009

Last week, I had a near-collision with the Love of Jesus Thrift Truck. When the letters of his vehicle came clearly into focus just inches infront of my face as he cut across three lanes of traffic, I thought we both might be in serious trouble. Fortunately, I was able to careen around him, and collected myself in the right lane for a good hundred yards or so. Then, as I turned onto the windy road that leads to my home, I began to think it all through.

Maybe, I thought, it’s some sort of metaphor for life. Does the love of our Lord truly cut us off sometimes? I hope so. If I’m moving along at the speed of life and need to be reminded of the presence of our Holy God, or redirected by His hand, I want Him to intervene. I want Him to show up big, just inches from my face. I want Him to get my attention, and to leave my heart racing.

I was just reading yesterday from Joanna Weaver’s latest book, Having a Mary Spirit, how sometimes God confounds us until we move in the direction He desires. She likens this to a wild horse’s trainer, who constantly confounds the horse, sending it in the opposite direction than it desires to go, until it is broken.

I can relate to her words. Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit confounded. Like I’m sometimes pulling against what my Maker has designed me to do. Like He is steadily redirecting me; moving me back to His higher purpose for my life.

When I really think about it, I feel like I have collided with the love of Jesus. It’s amazing to me that He takes the time to track us down, heading along whatever roads we have chosen, and moves us lovingly back into His best. I’m so glad He does.

(By the time I figured all of this out, I was no longer angry with the truck’s driver. Hey – maybe he was just an angel on special assignment. Unless, of course, you’re the driver and you’re reading this…in which case, you really should have been a bit more careful…I almost ran into you, buddy!)