Hosanna Restoration Church

Paul spoke in Corinthians about running to win and fighting with purpose. He said he ran the race of the faith not with uncertainty and did not fight as one who beat the air. Many of you remember when Ali, formerly Clay, boxed and he would let his opponents wear themselves out swinging at where he had been rather than where he was, and then he would throw a hundred punches hitting their tired bodies and win. In boxing you will hear them speak of good combination punches. One does well but two does better!

Endurance combined with confidence is a good combination just as faith combined with trust. When our faith gets weak, our trust will hold us up and when our confidence begins to weaken; our endurance can help us over.

We can start a race very confident, but when the wind blows, or the hill gets steep and our wind becomes short; our confidence can become battered. That is where endurance will keep us going. Marathon runners speak of hitting walls but pushing through. Athletes speak of getting a second wind and just when it seemed they could not go on, the endurance they have built up takes over and they are right back in the game.

When it comes to the kingdom of God, we must have confidence in His ability to do what He promised, and we must have endurance to shore up our confidence when things are not going according to our time table. Again we must remember that Jesus promised we would go through some things. In Luke 11:19 we are told, “By your patience, possess your souls.” In one translation we are told that we need patient endurance in order to receive the promises of God.

Have you ever watched a cat stalk a bird. They wait and wait and wait and then pounce. They crouch flexed for the attack. In order to do that, their muscles must endure without cramping so that they are ready at that right moment.

In Revelation we are told that those who endure till the end will receive the prize. We all love the instant success. We would like to lose the weight we gained over many years in a few minutes. We would like to go run a marathon without any training. We would like all our bills to be paid yesterday. We love it when we are healed instantly or the power of God manifests just the way we would like. But what about when it takes some time, or it just does not look like anything is happening? Do we have the endurance to carry us through?

Is our love for God so strong that we can simply enjoy Him in every circumstance? Is the pleasure of His presence more than enough to make the world go away? Do we have the endurance to keep standing?