Too Early to Quit
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope….”
Romans 5:3-4
I have this scripture on an index card pinned to my wall in front of my desk. It’s eye level so that it’s the first thing I see when I lift my head up from my computer. I need the reminder. Constantly.
It’s not just a reminder that there will be suffering, but it’s a reminder that suffering has a process, AND the process is to bring us to a place of HOPE. But the journey to hope runs through a place of endurance and perseverance. The message here is that it takes time. It’s not endurance if time is not involved.
The problem is that we want the suffering and pain to end yesterday. We pursue relief over restoration. They are not the same thing. One deals with the symptoms while the other deals with the deeper issues that cause the pain. Restoration requires work and perseverance.
In my journey through grief, I’ve discovered that pain ebbs and tides. While the “tides” carried more pain, I have found that the “ebbing” of my grief caused more problems. It’s in those moments or seasons where we tend to think the pain is over, we’ve passed the test. Then, on schedule, the tides roll in and try to destroy our hope. That’s why Paul says “suffering produces endurance….” It’s the ability to stay the course. It’s a “no quit” lifestyle.
This is such an important topic. We’ve lost our understanding as followers of Christ of what it means to endure. We put a time limit on our “perseverance.” If things aren’t better after a certain amount of time, we quit. We quit our job, we quit our marriage, we quit the ministry, we quit relationships, and we quit having hope. After a while, we become professionals at “quitting.” We don’t call it quitting, of course. We call it “self-care”, “self-help”, of “pursuing personal happiness.”
Ultimately it’s our hope that suffers when we quit.
Don’t misunderstand me. There are situations of abuse that require that we leave, or remove ourselves. It’s not quitting to leave an abusive situation. It’s wisdom. However, not everything that is painful is abuse. We need to learn how to make the distinction, otherwise, we’re going to keep going around the same mountain and dealing with the same pain – but having no growth to account for it.
This is also true: it’s not just about enduring, but it’s about how you endure. The word in the Greek literally means “cheerful or hopeful endurance.” It’s not just “gritting our teeth” and suffering through it. It is not a “waiting” it out. It’s an actionable response to suffering…it’s hopeful, even when we don’t feel it.
When Michelle and I returned from the funeral home after a very painful time of making all the decisions for our daughter’s burial, we were a wreck. Looking at the different plots, headstones, and flowers, and making the arrangements for the church and funeral service was one of the most difficult moments in our lives. However, after making it back to our Airbnb, I made a difficult choice—I put my headphones on, went to the walk-in closet in our bedroom, and worshiped.
It was not easy because nothing in that moment made sense. Emotionally I was a mess, and truthfully, I was still mad at God. Yet, in my heart, I knew He was good. I knew He was faithful, because I was not a stranger to suffering and endurance. So, I chose to worship. I didn’t wait until I felt like worshiping, because, honestly, nearly 3 years later, I still don’t “feel” like worshiping most days. I have to lead myself into a place of worship.
Our attitude while we endure is as important as the endurance itself.
After we’ve endured, the journey is still not complete. Paul says that “endurance produces character.” In the Greek, it’s not actually “character”, that’s just the closest word we could find for it. The word actually means “tried, tested, and proved.” This makes sense because the word for “produces” is the word, katergazomai. It means, “to work fully.”
So here’s the summary. Our hope is fully realized when we allow suffering to do it’s full work on our lives. Suffering fully accomplishes hopeful endurance in us, creating strong people who see the building of the Kingdom through to the end. Strong people have been “tried, tested, and proved” in the fires of suffering and endurance. They are the ones who have stayed in the fight long enough to see God’s hand of restoration and healing. Their HOPE is built on the back of endurance.
When things come up against men and women who have endured through suffering, they have HOPE, because they have walked suffering through to the end and have seen the goodness of God in the midst of their disappointments, grief, and pain.
These are the ones that God uses to build His Kingdom.
Stay the course. Don’t quit. He is good and He is faithful.
Peace.
