As you know, we count as 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. (James 5:11, NIV)
Think of some bad habits you’ve seen on the golf course through the years. You’ve watched players with quirky hitches in their swings, or who hardly bother to give their putt a read, or who show up moments before the tee time and wildly lash their driver a few times as a “warm up.” None of these will be good for your score; some won’t be good for your body. Still, instructor Jon Sherman, whose ideas about better golf habits we have been tracking through this series, says, “Giving up is one the of worst habits you can form in your golf game.”
You probably heard many times through your childhood years: “Don’t be a quitter.” And while those words ring in your ears in some contexts, it’s pretty easy to forget them when a round goes sideways and all you want to do is get into the clubhouse and find something cold to drink. Not so fast, Sherman is saying—especially if you want to keep your game sharp. Now is great time to rehearse your mental toughness and to learn how to score even when you’re not at your best.
Perseverance pays. And it is God who does the paying.The Scriptures give us a concept much like this for our walk with Jesus. It’s called perseverance, and it is one of the most highly touted traits we can possess.
It would be easy to tack on this simple exhortation: Consider Job. But no one really wants to consider Job. The faithful man of God lost his business, almost his entire family, and his health. He ended up in heap of ashes, scraping the boils that plagued his skin with a piece of pottery. So yeah, consider that. No thanks.
And yet James plucked Job from the pages of the Old Testament as a reminder of two things: Perseverance pays. And it is God who does the paying. Trouble, friends, can very much be worth it. Paul wrote that suffering gives us a chance to persevere, and that, when we do, this leads to character and hope. What a rewarding progression!
If you flip a few pages over from James in your Bible, you’ll come to the opening chapters of Revelation, which feature letters to seven churches. A theme common in several of them sounds like this: “Hold on! Endure!” Like Job’s troubles, our own may seem unnecessary. Isn’t there another way? But that other way would not be God’s way. He uses our trials to build perseverance in us. Maintaining that understanding will help us stick to the work of the Lord and gain our rewards.
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Jeff Hopper
November 12, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.