Endurance inspired by Hope

By Roberto Rodríguez Núñez

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 1:3 (NIV)

         

As I was reading my email, I noticed I received a letter from one of my readers requesting me to write a meditation about endurance. I immediately sat down and searched the Scriptures for an inspiring word to support this meditation request. I came across 1 Thessalonians 1:3 and was transfixed by two words in this verse that firmly grabbed my attention; the two words are endurance and hope. I studied the word endurance in a Greek dictionary and found out that it means, “a remaining under," and that “patience” and “perseverance” are synonyms of the word endurance. I then read James 5:11 which says, “As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

This verse reminded me that some time ago I wrote some notes about Job. I found them and noticed I had written some rather interesting information. God knew Job personally. He described him as perfect and upright. He feared God, shunned evil, and he was very rich; God blessed him abundantly. He gave him seven sons and three daughters. He was an early riser to worship God and intercede for his children. He so feared the Lord that he didn’t want his children to sin against God; and if it happened that they did, he would pray and offer sacrifices to redeem them of their sin.

However, it happened that one-day God allowed Satan to touch Job. In the first strike, Satan smote him extremely hard to the point that he lost his family and all his possessions. God then allowed Satan to attack him a second time and touch his body, to the point where Job lost everything except his life. He endured physical, emotional, and spiritual pain as he pondered why this entire calamity came upon him.

God allowed Satan to do this. Why? This is an overwhelming question. However, one thing is clear; God was in control, and He knew what He was doing. This succession of calamities that befell him one after another left him in ruin and practically naked, but the outcome was going to be one of rejoicing. Still throughout this entire ordeal he worshiped God. We’re to “remain under” until a breakthrough comes to our lives. It may take some time, as we see how long it took Job, but God has a timetable in which he will act in our behalf. In time, He will give us all that he has promised (Heb. 10:36). The amazing promise is that “God who gives endurance and encouragement” (Rom. 15:5) will not depart from us nor will He forsake us.

Job was also a man of integrity; he held together in the midst of adversity. Although his wife told him to fall apart and curse God, he maintained his integrity and ignored her (2:10). When Job’s friends came to see him, they didn’t recognize him. They were stunned and couldn’t utter any words. They sat mute for seven days just looking and pondering what to say to him.

In chapter three we read that Job was at the breaking point of desperation. His pain was unbearable. He got to the point where he just couldn’t take it anymore. Nevertheless, at the end of all the discussions, God came through and restored everything back to him. It is of no surprise the apostle Paul tells us that we are to endure in suffering (Rom. 5:3), troubles (2 Cor. 1:6), persecution and trials (2 Thess. 1:4). We must endure “and bring forth fruit with patience” (Lk. 8:15). Endurance produces patience, and patience produces hope. Hope doesn’t disappoint us. It will purify us (1 Jn. 3:3), 

strengthen us (Ps. 31:4), and encourage us (Ps. 42:5) to move forward in faith.

The apostle Paul said that our “endurance is inspired by hope," so the second point we must consider is to hold fast to hope and wait upon the Lord. But what is hope? It is trust. It is a hope rooted in God’s power. A hope that gives us the strength to endure and wait patiently for the things we currently do not see (Rom. 8:24-25); thus hope propels us to go on. The sufferings we endure strengthen our hope to the point where we can see our redemption is near. I echo the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on hope, he said, “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream…” I will conclude with one last quote on hope. "Hope" is the thing with feathers-- That perches in the soul-- And sings the tune without the words-- And never stops--at all—(Emily Dickenson).