“We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.” Colossians 1:11-12 NLT
It was one of the most difficult years of my life, but when I look back on the year 2004, I am filled with thanks. A loved one had entered a period of darkness and depression and there was nothing I could do to change the situation. Nothing I could do to help. It was an awful feeling.
I remember kneeling by my bed praying my heart out to God, asking Him to break through and change the situation, to bring my loved one out of darkness. I used every prayer technique I had ever learned about speaking victory and taking authority over the enemy.
And then the oddest, most unexpected thing happened. I felt God’s Spirit speaking to my heart.
“Stop.”
I was caught off guard.
“What?!”
I listened for the voice of the Spirit within me. He told me that my prayers weren’t really for my loved one, but for me. If that situation was resolved it would make my life easier. Ouch! He told me not to pray for this loved one anymore because I couldn’t pray with pure motivation. I was to pray for my own attitudes and actions, and for grace to love this person to the best of my ability during this time of shadow.
So, began a journey that lasted for the next eighteen months. The forest was dark. I couldn’t always see the path, but step by difficult step, somehow, I kept moving forward, not knowing if that track would ever end.
Perhaps you are in such a time right now, my Friend. It may seem dark. It may seem like it will always be dark. You wonder how you can ever get through this. You feel like quitting. Like this faith is just not working. Nothing makes sense.
So, what can you do? How do you survive? How do you do more than survive? How do you thrive?
Two qualities work together to help you do that: Endurance and Patience. Why endurance and patience? Life is hard. People are difficult. Relationships are a mess. Our labor often seems empty and burdensome. The world system is broken. Our hearts long for perfection that can only be found in eternity. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) We need endurance and patience just to live life on earth.
But you can’t find endurance and patience inside yourself. They come from God’s Spirit within you. As you choose to move forward, you make room for Him to provide what you need. It may seem like an impossible choice, but when you make it, endurance and patience begin their work in you.
What do endurance and patience do for you?
Endurance and patience make room for joy. There is no joy when you want to quit, is there? You’ve been there. I’ve been there. The darkest moments are the ones when you just want to sit in the dirt and disappear. You can’t dig up hope. You can’t dream a future. You can’t find a reason to keep going. No reason but God. The determination to persevere doesn’t make the dark journey easier, but it allows your perspective to rise above the difficulty. Once the cloud of quitting clears, the sunshine of hope can rise, and hope leads to the glow of joy. That joy is knowing that, regardless of the burden, His presence goes with you and as you come to Him, He will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28-30) He won’t leave you or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5-6) He will strengthen and uphold you. (Isaiah 41:10) In His presence, even though the day is definitely dark, there is fullness of joy. (Psalm 16:11)
Endurance and patience allow me to experience my eternal inheritance…God’s presence. His presence is our greatest gift. I forget that sometimes. What about you? God has done everything necessary for you and me to access all that He has and all that He is. He has promised to be with us in trouble. (Psalm 91:15) But more than that, He has made us His children and has made a place for us where He is. (John 14:1-3) He has promised us an inheritance in heaven and given us His Spirit, His presence with us and in us now, as a down payment of all that we will have in our eternal future. (Ephesians 1:11-14). Our inheritance is relationship with God Himself. The goal of this life is to be prepared to spend eternity in relationship with Him. What a glorious inheritance!
Endurance and patience lead us out of darkness and into light. The light that believers live in is the awareness of His presence amid darkness and confusion. To keep going when you can’t see in the dark requires commitment to endure and the patience to wait for the resolution. If I sit down in the middle of the forest because I can’t see the way where does that lead me? Obviously, it leads me nowhere. Nothing will change in my situation, that is out of my control anyway, but nothing will change in me either. The light that we look for may be a change in our situation, but the light that we need is His presence.
Choosing to take the dark path inch by inch, trusting that there will be an end in the future, lights a torch within. It allows the light of God’s Spirit in you to show you where to place your faltering feet. And with every choice to stride onward, the torch grows brighter. The awareness of His presence becomes more tangible. Until at last you are surrounded by His light, through each stumbling step.
At times, that year and a half season of trial was excruciatingly difficult. Yet, through it I experienced God’s presence in a sweet way. I learned how to continue moving forward even though the path ahead seemed completely obliterated. I wasn’t sure if the light would ever return. But I came to a point of knowing that whatever the future held, God had given me all that I needed to do more than just survive. He had given me His presence and His strength, the power to endure and even thrive, regardless of whether the situation ever changed.
We did finally emerge from the darkness and when we did, I found myself to be a different person. More stable in my faith. More deeply grounded in my relationship with God. I had learned to find joy in Him, even though the situation was dark and difficult. I had learned that He really is enough.
That’s what I want for you, Dear Friend. I know you are deep in the dark woods right now, but you can survive. You can do more than survive. You can thrive in the darkness because His glorious power will give you all the endurance and patience you need.
Key Thought: Life is hard, but God has given us all we need to thrive in the darkness.
A Scripture to Consider: “We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.” Colossians 1:11-12
A YES Challenge: Take time to talk with God about your current season. Be as honest as you can about how you are feeling. Once you have shared all your darkness with Him, make the determination to keep moving forward. Ask Him to give you endurance and patience and then thank Him for His presence. End your time with a few moments of grateful worship.
Prayer: Father, You know all the details of my current difficulty. Honestly, I don’t know how I am going to get through this. I don’t have what I need in myself. I need Your Spirit to fill me with the endurance and patience that I need. Let Your glorious power work in me. Thank You for the joy of Your presence with me, even in the darkness. Thank You for me eternal inheritance in Your presence. Amen.