Stick To It

Consider a time you felt stuck. What words describe your experience?

Now consider a time you "stuck" to something. What words describe your experience?

There's quite a difference between being stuck and sticking to something. Even when we stick to something, we can get stuck in stubbornness or stick to perseverance.

We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us. - Romans 5:3-5 (NCV)

What we need to stick to is not a place or situation. We should stick to perseverance itself. Perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. The situation in these verses involves troubles. Our perseverance isn’t about sticking to the situation causing our troubles. Our perseverance focuses on what will take a through our troubles and other situations. We stick to perseverance because it’s perseverance which leads to hope, which according to the Bible, doesn’t disappoint us because of who God is!

Of course, we don’t know how long our troubles will last. Perhaps a brief time, perhaps a lifetime. But when we stick our feet into the sinking sand of our troubles, we’re definitely not going anywhere. When we set our sights on perseverance, we develop character and the hope. And hope carries us through our trials as we grow in our relationship with God. We cannot mature without perseverance. Ouch! So, if we’re not persevering, we’re not growing; we’re staying childish. God has a plan and purpose for each of us, but we can only fulfill that purpose if we're growing, which means persevering through troubles and struggles! If we refuse to grow up, we can’t begin to accomplish what God has planned for us.

You can sit in the middle of our troubles, look ahead and painfully wonder what it would be like if your life was different. Or, you can look ahead with hope and then move your feet, one step at a time, according to God’s direction and timing.

When you’re taking one step at a time according to his will, you’ll often find yourself in a different place, closer to God, and can glance back and celebrate the triumphs of persevering through trials!

Best Year Yet

This is the best year yet! was a popular post on Facebook and Twitter for the first ten minutes of 2010. Why? Because nothing bad had happened yet. Can we only have a "good year" (or month or week or day) if it's trouble-free? Is our vision so handicapped that we correlate "the best" with a lack of problems or struggles? How spoiled are we?!

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. – Romans 5:1-5

The Holy Spirit gives us everything we need. You have access to God’s love, courage, strength, joy, discernment (and the list goes on…) inside you, accessible at all times. So why do you think we still want to sit beside the road, bury our head in our hands and quit when we encounter struggles? Perhaps...

...Even when we know God provides all we need through him, we try to rely on our own strength and courage instead of tapping into his.
...We wait to tap into his strength and courage only when we’re completely exhausted. We try to hand him the baton, expecting him to run the rest of the way for us, not with us.
...We rely on the Holy Spirit to guide, equip, and encourage us so infrequently that we’re not sure how to listen and rely on him.

...We’re human. I don’t want this to become a crutch we rely on, but we have to admit, we’re going to struggle with our past baggage, current struggles, and future apprehensions. The key is whether we try to manage it all or rely on God to equip us to persevere and endure.

When we have problems and trials, we can develop endurance. (We can also sit and mope and whine and become self-focused.) Endurance develops character. Character develops our hope in salvation. And yet it's our hope in salvation, our relationship with Jesus, our acceptance and understanding of God’s character, that helps us deal with our problems and trials in the first place.

You'll have problems and trials this year, my friend. I guarantee it. Be determined in how you'll respond. It could be the best year yet!

"No" Your Limits

I suppose I could have kept my eyes open a little longer. But I was sleepy, and the sun was so warm, and everything on my list of things to do could honestly wait. So I relinquished...and took a short nap. Ahhh...How refreshing!

Sometimes I push myself too hard, ignoring limits. And yet there are also times my limits are marked with a huge red flag. When I see the flag looming ahead, I stop.

According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/, a limit is definited as "something that bounds, restrains, or confines." What limits you? Create a list.

• When does fear limit you?
• What types of emotion limit you?
• How does money, location, transportation limit you?
• What relationships limit you?
• How does "baggage" limit you?

There are situations in which a limit is placed in our path as a warning to take another route, proceed with caution, or cease pursuing that direction altogether. But sometimes we use limits as an excuse to stop, pause, or retreat. And sometimes limits are a test of our perseverance.

I'm too self-sufficient sometimes. Okay, a lot of times. The fact is my limits aren't limits at all, because I know God, who has no limits. Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God." (Mark 10: 27, NLT) I'm only limited by my stubbornness to rely on my own strength, courage, and perseverance. And I get worn out and give up so quickly!

Take a look at your list of limits. Circle the items beyond God's limits. You can keep those things on your list of definite "no-can-do" limits. Cross off the items that are not beyond God's limits. My guess is, you'll be drawing a few lines on your paper!

Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true. For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit. The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands. - John 3:33-35 (NLT)

The Burden of Chocolate

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. - Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)

Share this experience with a group of women to learn about burdens and perseverance in a practical way.

Ask each woman to place graham crackers on a plate in front of her. Each graham cracker square represents an area of responsibility in her life (mother, wife, employee, supervisor, ministry leader, volunteer, board member). Or areas may be situational such as health, finances, or travel. Women then use the icing to write a letter or create a symbol to represent each area the graham crackers represent. For “mother,” a simple “M” will do, or those women who are a bit more creative might design a smiley face with hair standing on end and eyes closed in exhaustion.

Next, women place chocolate chips on each cracker to indicate the burden associated with each area of their lives. So, an area which has little burden has only one or two chocolate chips on it, and an area that has overwhelming burden might be overflowing with chocolate chips!

Remind women: This might seem like a yummy treat when we look at one or two of our crackers, especially when we think we have the best ratio of cracker, icing and chocolate! But what if you had to eat everything you have in front of you all in one sitting?

If you’re in a larger group, break into groups of four or five to discuss these questions:
Q: What surprised you as you were sitting up your crackers?
Q: What areas do you feel the most weight/burden and why?
Q: When was the last time you felt an added burden? A release of a burden?
Q: How do you typically cope with pressures of everyday life?Q: How is this experience like coping with the everyday responsibilities and situations in your life?

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. - James 1:2-6 (NLT)