ENDURING FAITH

Whenever we face afflictions and persecution, Satan comes to us whispering fears and lies: “How are you going to make it through this crisis? What will you do now? If God is faithful, how could He allow this to happen to you? How could He put your loved ones at risk this way? What will become of you, your family, your job, your ministry?”

But enduring faith rises up and answers the enemy’s lies: “Devil, you’re asking the wrong questions. The question for me right now is not how I’m going to make it. It is not what will become of me and mine. I have already placed everything — all afflictions, all trials, all my plans, everything that concerns me — into my loving Father’s hands. He has proved Himself faithful time after time and He can be trusted with my future.”

With this established in our hearts, the question for us is, “How can I love and serve my Lord better? How shall I serve others as myself?”

Enduring faith means casting ourselves wholly on the will of God, as Jesus describes it in the Sermon on the Mount. In short, we are to seek God and His concerns first, and everything we need will then be given to us (see Matthew 6:33).

Enduring faith declares, “I have no will of my own. Rather, His will be done. No more personal agenda for me. No more playing God by trying to solve my own problems or those of others. Holy Spirit, keep my mind stayed on my Lord and His promises.”

With such faith, we’ll be ready for whatever the present hour brings.