Perseverance

To me, one of the hardest things about the Christian life is that you have to do it every day. As Solomon so wisely pointed out in Ecclesiastes, "there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven." Our lives go through seasons. Some good, some bad. Our spiritual walks also go through seasons. There are times where I feel closer to God than others. There are times where following God seems easy and great, and times where I have to grit my teeth and press on, or spend my time crying before a heavenly father. We are challenged in Hebrews to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

per·se·ver·ance/ˌpərsəˈvi(ə)rəns/Noun

1. Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

I think we can determine by the definition of perseverance that we should expect some difficulty in this life we live. Jesus said, "in this world you will have trouble." Sometimes our troubles come from external sources- coworkers, family members, friends, money, job stress, loss- of people or things. But sometimes, our troubles come from inside ourselves and from our own hearts. "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing." Romans 7:19

In our passage today, we saw three kings of Judah. Two of them struggled to persevere against their own sinful hearts. One of them appeared to have gotten it right. What can we learn from them about how to persevere ourselves?

Amaziah

We learn right off the bat that Amaziah "did what was right in they eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly." (25:2) Early in his reign he was obedient. Based on the fact that we are told he was half-hearted in his obedience, and how he acts later on in his reign, I have to wonder if he was obedient for the right reasons. Obedience is good. But wholehearted obedience is obviously what we need to persevere.

Perhaps because he was only half-heartedly devoted to the Lord, Amaziah soon started worshipping the idols of the the people he has just conquered with the Lord's help. As Beth Moore has stated many times, we were made to worship- and we are going to worship something. If even a tiny portion of our heart is left open for worship, we are going to find something to worship with it. Amaziah may have preferred these idols because they supported his pursuits of money, power, and recognition. It so easy to let idols creep into our lives. What parts of your heart are attached to something other than God? Quick recognition of the things that steal our devotion from God and turning that devotion back to God is key to persevering. To be able to do that though, we have to be obeying God for the right reasons to begin with.

Uzziah

Uzziah also started out strong. Then in chapter 26 verse 16 we see, "But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall." He thought he could live above God's law. We see that obviously, he couldn't. God judgement this time was swift in coming, giving him leprosy as the priests watched. I can't think of anything more humbling. Obviously, a key to persevering is to remain humble. How do we do that? Pride is sneaky and often comes upon us without us even realizing it. One easy thing to do to keep it in check is to count your blessings. Pride often follows on the heels of success, popularity, influence and power. Rest assured, if we have any of those things, God gave them to us. Lord, help us to remember to credit you with our blessings.

Jotham

Finally, we see a king appear to get it right. Jotham followed what his dad did right, but also learned from his mistakes. We're told in Chapter 27 verse 8 that Jotham "walked steadfastly before the Lord his God." That to me, speaks of perseverance. And he shows us that it is possible...

The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:8-10

As New Testament believers, we have one advantage none of these kings did, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is there to convict us, guide us and teach us. Our responsibility is to keep fanning that flame in our hearts and not throw water on it to quench it. Sow to please the Spirit. Do good. If only we could all the time...

Persevere.

per·se·ver·ance/ˌpərsəˈvi(ə)rəns/Noun

2. Continuance in a state of grace leading finally to a state of glory.

Father, thank you for the grace to make it to glory. Don't let us depend on ourselves.

Amen.