Persevere

So this month is taking a stand, and the title

of this morning's message is persevere Who has heard of

Mary Jones?

I'll give you a clue.

She was born in seventeen eighty four. Mary was born

into a poor Christian family in North Wales, and life

got even harder for her after her father died.

When she was just four years old.

A revival began in the area, and when she was

still a young child. When she was still a young child,

and at the age of eight, she committed her life

to the Lord. She learned to read and soon wanted

a Bible for herself. Welsh Bibles were rare and expensive,

and the nearest copy available was owned by a neighbor

two miles away. Mary would regularly walk over to read

and memorize as much as she could. I mean that

would constitute dedication and perseverance on behalf of if that

was an adult, but for a child. Given we're talking

about whales, it's highly likely that the weather wasn't always

great either. Mary decided that she wanted her own Bible

and began saving up. Six years later she had enough money,

and when she heard where she could buy one, she

set out one morning barefoot Clearly she couldn't afford shoes

to walk the twenty six miles to go and buy one.

She was just fourteen years old.

This effort to buy a Bible inspired the guy she

brought it from, along with others, to create what is

now known as the Bible Society, to help make Bibles

more affordable and available. God alone knows the price that

Mary paid persevering and never giving up, first in walking

two miles each way just to read a Bible, then

saving up the money to buy one. Clearly, she and

probably other family members would have had other really pressing

physical needs like shoes that she could have spent the

money on. I believe that the Lord wants us to

think today about taking a stand in terms of persevering.

Ephesian six thirteen says, having done all to stand.

The context of this verse is.

That we put on all the spiritual armor that the

Lord provides. As it goes on to explain in Ephesian

six fourteen to eighteen, we can play our part in

the spiritual battle in which we may find ourselves, although

I won't go into that now. Then, after utilizing all

parts of the armor, we will be able to resist

and stand our ground. This is about not giving up,

even when we can't see the end in sight, continuing

to do what's right because it's right. I believe that

there's more than one person listening to me right now,

and more who will listen later, who are struggling to

keep going, struggling to persevere, And I believe that the

Lord is saying to you, don't give up.

The battle is not yours but mine.

Your part is to stand and keep on standing. My

part is still behind the scenes, not visible to you.

But to get the victory, you need to keep going.

I will still love you if you give up. My

love is not conditional, but you'll miss out in the

long term as well as the short term. Hope anchors

the soul. As it says in Hebrews six nineteen, the

soul is the mind, the will, and the emotions. Hope

will give your mind, your will, and your emotions an anchor,

something to keep you steady whilst you persevere. When it's

time for you to move to weigh anchor. Several doors

will open at once, and it may be a bit

overwhelming figuring out which direction to go in, but one

door will stand out and it won't necessarily look like

the most exciting option, but because it's my best, it'll

be the path of peace. Peace is priceless, and you've

not had a lot of it in recent times, So

don't allow the lure of what looks most interesting or

attractive to distract you.

I am the Prince of peace.

Let me rule and reign in your heart and guide

you in all your decision making.

Some of you know that.

When I was in my twenties, I did a one

year graduate program with a mission organization called Wickliffe Bible Translators,

which involved me spending about three months study at the

center in high Wickham before going abroad. I went to

the Central African Republic as an anthropologist, learning about the

culture of the tribe we were with to help the

long term missionaries better understand how to share the Gospel

in a meaningful way. The first three weeks of study

at high Wickham I found extremely difficult. Another girl and

I were the slowest at doing that initial academic part,

usually ending up working late to finish that day's tasks.

Although I knew it was right for me to be there,

I found it really hard and thought about giving up

a number of times. I knew if I left, God

would still love me, but it wouldn't be his best

and I would have to live with not knowing what

I'd missed. That thought kept me there. That and the

prayers of at least one person. As I later found out,

I am so so glad I persevered. It was a

life changing experience and a privilege to live in a

village in the heart of Africa, a desire I'd had

since I was eighteen. You know you've adapted when you

hear a vehicle coming on the one road through the

village and you bend down to look through the trees

to see who it is. Because it's such a rarity,

it's of interest. Perseverance costs us at many levels, but

it's worth it. Let's read what it says about it

in James one versus two to four. That's James one

versus two to four. Consider it pure joy, my brothers

and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because

you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Let perseverance finish her perfect it's work, so that you

may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Our perspective

on trials is not naturally one of pure joy. To

state the obvious. The Greek word for joy it used here,

also means calm delight. Here God is sharing his perspective

on our trials. Consider it pure joy, take calm delight

in them. You tend to share what you think, the

things that really matter to you with those closest to you,

and you don't hold back if you think it's for

their best, even at the risk of them reacting badly

to what you say. You love them enough to take

that risk, assuming you have peace that it's right to say.

Whatever it is.

Here it feels to me like God is taking that

risk with us, the risk that we may react negatively

or even just ignore what he thinks because it's so

opposite to our perspective. But God puts it out there

anyway to help us get his perspective on try because

at the end of the day, we'll be happier if

we consider them pure joy, as opposed to just thinking

about how hard life is. It does say in Isaiah

fifty five, verses eight to nine. For my thoughts are

not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, declares

the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth.

So are my ways higher than your ways? Are my

thoughts higher than your thoughts. In inviting us to share

his perspective on trials, the Lord invites us.

Into closer union with him.

Jesus endured the cross, the burden of the weight of

the sin of the whole of mankind, along with absolute

physical agony, for the joy that was set before him.

As it says in Hebrews twelve, verse two, that's how

he got through. And because he endured, he persevered. He

can help us to do so too, As it says

in the well known verse in Philippians four, verse thirteen,

I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

I can, I can I can do all things Jesus

empowers me. It can be helpful to meditate on a

verse by saying it out loud and personalizing it, emphasizing

different parts of it each time to help it go

deeper into our spirits. God doesn't just tell us to

consider trials pure joy, but also tells us why, again,

sharing with us his heart for us. The reason we're

to consider trials pure joy is, as it says in

James one, verse three, you know that the testing of

your faith produces perseverance. If you look up the Greek

word for perseverance used here in the Strong's Bible dictionary,

the first thing it says is cheerful or hopeful endurance,

and it also includes patient waiting. So the testing of

our faith produces cheerful or hopeful endurance. It teaches us

to wait patiently, which is clearly something that God values.

Then he tells us why he values it so much,

and it's obviously not because he's mean.

Verse four.

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be

mature and complete, not lacking anything. A little while back,

I was thinking about a conversation I knew I was

going to have with a friend the following day, and

the inevitable question I would be asked, because my friend cares,

how are you? My honest answer was putting one foot

in front of the other. I keep doing what I

know to do, as I have been for some time,

although nothing appears to have changed. The Lord interrupted my

thoughts at that point and said, but you've changed yasmine.

Persevering when you don't feel like it changes you in

a way that wouldn't happen if I whipped you out

of every situation that your first cry of, I don't

want to do this anymore. Someone recently gave me a

book called Gelato at the Villa by a lady called

Robin Gunn Jones. It's lightweight Christian fiction, and I found

it really relaxing and enjoyable. It's about two women who

go on holiday to Italy.

One is a believer, one is not.

They have a lovely friendship, consume copious amounts of proper

Italian ice cream, have fun and share at a real level.

I won't say too much in case anyone decides to

buy it.

Anyway.

They're in Florence and a hairdresser is speaking to one

of the women who's had a radical haircut not only

really suits her, but reflects something of the inner transformation

that's taking place during this holiday. The stylist said. It

was known that Michelangelo saw figures in slabs, and he

said all he had to do was chisel away the

pieces that didn't belong. He allowed the statue to be

released from the rock that describes the work of the

Holy Spirit in our lives, doesn't it when we submit

to it, given perseverance, develops character, as it says in

Romans five, given it helps us to mature. It's as

if our decision to persevere is like a specific chisel

in the hands of our creator, bringing out more and

more of the character that he's placed in us. Clearly,

God values perseverance, cheerful, hopeful endurance as an unavoidable stepping

stone to maturity, which tells us something about how much

he values maturity. This is God's goal for us, that

we may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. There are

a number of things that can help us to persevere

in difficult situations and relationships, but we'll just look at

one today, hase yourself. Simon and I were speaking to

this seventy year old guy recently at our gym who's

done one hundred and twenty marathons, including triathlons and ultra marathons,

and he's still going strong, although he's no longer doing

the ultramarathons. He's decided to take it easy now he's seventy.

This guy was talking to us about a really tough

cycle ride he completed recently. He competed in recently with

a long, super steep hill. Right at the end, he

spoke about a number of cyclists who fell by the

wayside at the point where they reached the.

Bottom of this long steep incline.

Some literally fell off their bikes because they were so spent.

They'd given everything to get to that point and had

nothing left to go up such a steep road.

They were in tears on the roadside.

This guy said he'd been there a few times himself,

but has learned to pace himself, and said it was

something he wished he could tell these guys. I was thinking,

what does that mean for us to pace ourselves when

we need to endure, to persevere, for example, in a difficult.

Relationship or situation.

As a starting point, it's good to remember what Jesus

said when he taught us not to worry about the

basic necessities of life. He said in mac Matthew six

thirty four, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry

about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Learning not to worry, not just in theory, but in practice,

it will help us to persevere by pacing ourselves. I

like how the message version the Bible paraphrases this, give

your entire attention to.

What God is doing right now.

And don't get worked up about what may or may

not happen tomorrow.

God will help you deal.

With whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

I came across as saying recently, as you journey through life,

whatever be your goal, keep your eye upon the donut

and not upon the whole. It's about staying focused on

what we have and not on what we don't have.

It will help us to persevere.

It's not about denying the presence of the whole, but

about what we focus on. So what else does it

mean for us to pace ourselves and we need to

endure to persevere. I'm just going to share a couple

of thoughts here, but it's a question for table talk

to discuss later with others or ponder with the Lord

what it means for you. So firstly, wait on the

Lord Isaiah forty verse thirty one. Isaiah forty verse thirty

one says, but those who wait on the Lord shall

renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk

and not faint or become tired. The Hebrew word for wait, cava,

literally means to bind together, perhaps by twisting I thought

that was interesting.

If we bind.

Ourselves together with the Lord, it's logical that our strength

will be renewed.

Figuratively.

That Hebrew word means to wait, look for, hope, and expect.

It's about waiting expectantly with anticipation for the Lord. It's

a well known verse, but like many well known verses,

it's one thing to know it in our heads. It's

another to internalize it through experience. When you've got nothing

left but a Bible verse, when you've got nothing you

can control or do in your own strength, but hold

on to a particular verse that tends to be when

you make history with that verse, when it becomes part

of the story of your life. It's so important. I

can't emphasize it enough, the importance of waiting on the Lord.

This verse is in the Bible for a reason. Pacing

ourselves can mean taking time out just to focus on

the Lord and set aside everything else. When we can,

we should off load to him by all means, but

also give both the Lord and ourselves that time to

just be together with no agenda. He may speak to

us directly or through the Word of God, but simply

that time in his presence will refresh us.

He is the source of life.

Waiting in God's answer, his voice or promise is an

essential part of our walk with the Lord. To me,

it's clearly described in something I read about a lioness

resting yet fully alert. It's an interesting concept, isn't it

to be at rest yet fully alert, attentive to the moment,

but ready to jump up and go the distance at

a moment's notice. Look at the promises for those who

wait on the Lord. Their strength shall be renewed. We

are strengthened whilst we wait when we wait with expectation,

in anticipation of God's response. We always want our answers

to prayer now, But sometimes God has a plan and

a purpose for the waiting time. There may be more

than one purpose for it. For example, maybe we need

to build up our strength to be able to handle

the answer well. Those who wait on the Lord shall

mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and

not be weary. They shall walk and not faint or

become tired. They will sow, rise up and be energized

to keep goinging.

So to pace ourselves.

When we need to endure, to persevere, it's important to

wait on the Lord. Secondly, in whatever way we can

take time out.

Be nice to yourself.

It's worth remembering that Jesus said in Matthew twenty two,

Verses thirty seven and thirty nine, that the most important

commandments are to love the Lord your God, with all

your heart and with all your soul, and with all

your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself, love God

with everything you've got, and love others as you love yourself.

It's so important to learn to love ourselves in a

healthy way. I'm obviously not talking about narcissism, but valuing

ourselves the way that God does. If we don't, we'll

find it hard to love others. I really enjoy reading,

so allowing myself downtime to read is a relatively easy

way to recharge my batteries, so to speak. I also

enjoy exploring London, a pleasure that Simon doesn't share. But

I'm quite happy to either go by myself with the

Lord or with a friend. The Lord's been with me

to a number of different cafes.

Be nice to yourself.

Taking time out helps us to pace ourselves and therefore

keep persevering. If there isn't an obvious way of doing this.

We can ask the Lord for wisdom how to do it.

How to take a break from a situation, for example,

by creating space within a relationship. Can you do something

to treat yourself, for example, give yourself a morning off,

even an hour away from a situation, from whatever it is,

and allow yourself to relax without feeling guilty. We will

be better place to persevere if we can pace ourselves.

So pacing ourselves by taking time out to wait on

the Lord and be nice to ourselves are just a

couple of ways in which we can.

Help ourselves to persevere.

But I want to finish by looking briefly at an

example from the Old Testament of someone who understood what

it meant to persevere. There are a number of evil

kings in Israel, and Ahab rules in the ninth century

BC for about twenty two years, the prophet Elijah prophesied drought,

as recorded in the First Book of Kings, Chapter seventeen,

which then lasted for three and a half years. Then,

in One King's eighteen, the Lord sent Elija to King

Ahab to tell him that he the Lord was going

to send rain. Let's read it in One King's Chapter eighteen,

verses forty one to forty five. So One King's eighteen

forty one to forty five, and Elijah said to Ahab,

go eat and drink, for there is the sound of

a heavy rain. So Ahab went off to eat and drink.

But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel bent

down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

Go and look toward the sea, he told his servant.

And when he went up and looked, there's nothing there.

He said seven times, Elijah said, go back. Then the

seventh time, the servant reported, a cloud as small as

a man's hand is rising from the sea. So Elijah said,

go and tell Ahab, hitch up your chariot and go

down before the rain stops.

Ye.

Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose,

a heavy rain started falling, and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.

I just want to make a couple of points here.

So One King's eighteen forty two Elijah bent down to

the ground and put his face between his knees. My

understanding is that's not only a position expressing humility and reverence,

but also very likely one of very focused worship as

well as prayer. Elijah worshiped God by faith that he

would be as good as his word. Verse forty three.

Go and look toward the sea, he told his servant.

And he went up and looked. There's nothing there, he said.

Seven times. Elijah said, go back. Six times. Elijah sent

his servant to look, but didn't look himself. Sometimes looking

at the facts and the natural can negatively impact our faith.

Elijah kept his eyes on the Lord. He stayed there

and persevered in prayer and worship until the news of

change came. This obviously isn't a literal prescription for all situations,

but it's an example to us of where our focus

needs to be whilst we're persevering in a situation, whilst

we're persevering in prayer and worship.

How do you think it changed?

Elijah persevering despite six reports from his servant of no change.

How do you think it Elijah's response to the six

reports of no change impacted his servant. It's worth remembering

that we never know what impact we're going to have

on others. How God will speak through us, be it

through our actions, our example, and maybe through our words.

Perseverance.

Doing what's right because it's right, whether we feel like

it or not, is never wasted. God always sees, and

he's not wasteful. He won't waste him. We don't know

how or when our perseverance will inspire others to not

give up or in other ways. Mary Jones was just

a poor girl from a remote part of Wales. Yet,

as Ja John says from whose book Heroes of the Faith,

I took Mary's story, God took her zeal and commitment,

persevering as a child, first to read the Bible, then

to save up six years to buy one, then to

want miles bare foot to make the purchase. God used

all of that to set in motions something that was

to have an amazing effect on the world, and continues

to do so today. There are now one hundred and

forty Bible societies worldwide. It's worth noting that Mary was

a child. We can learn from children. One King's eighteen

forty four, the seventh time the servanth reported a cloud

as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea.

Notice a small change was enough Elijah to be fully

convinced that the answer to his prayers was on the

way He could have dismissed it as insignificant, but Elijah

had Heaven's perspective on a small change. That's a reminder

to us of what it says in Zechariah four, verse ten,

that we are not to despise the day of small things,

of small beginnings.

Let's pray better.

Yes, Lord, thank you that you strengthen us to persevere.

You don't expect us to do it in our own strength.

When we're weak, we're strong in you. Forgive us for

giving up when you haven't finished with something. Show us

is as if there's something that we've let go of

that you haven't and you want us to pick up again.

Help us to take hold of you your perspective on

our trials and challenges. We ask it Father, in Jesus' name,

and I thank you with all my heart because I

know that you've heard us.

Amen.