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Recently, we had a story of a young man who was a public figure with an excellent public persona. He had all of the external aspects of success. He had a great career and a wonderful family. He had achieved many goals, and he was only 40 years old. He was active in the community and displayed care and concern for others. However, a few days ago, he was found dead in a hotel room from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. A beautiful life was cut short because the young man gave up hope. It could have been mental problems, depression, despair, or a feeling of defeat. People are influenced by these and many other issues daily. God gives us one element to put in our toolkit to fight these issues: Steadfastness.
Patience is the King James Version translation of this word which more often should be translated as steadfastness. This word means constancy, endurance, and unwavering consistency. It describes the character of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and loyalty to faith and piety even by great trials. Steadfastness takes work. It is developed by a mindset that meditates on the Word of God (Joshua 1:8)
James 5:10 -11: We are supposed to take the Prophets of the Old Testament and learn from their endurance and steadfastness. We can read the record of Job and how he lost family, wealth, and status among his friends and family, and he did not lose his integrity of standing on God’s Word. Was he depressed? Yes. Was Job sad? Absolutely. Did he question why he was born? He did. However, Job did not give up. He did not quit. He held fast to God and His Word. Abraham waited 24 years for the promise of God to manifest. Did Abraham have some mistakes during this time? Yes. God is not concerned about a perfect walk but a faithful one. We can all get off track, but we can always recover and return to the Word. Therefore, God so lovingly gave us examples of Prophets to hold in our minds from His Word.
James 5:11 talks specifically about Job. We always recognize people as happy who can endure trial and tribulation. They have an experience with God and a testimony to tell others of God’s goodness and grace. The phrase patience of Job should be the steadfastness of Job. Job was not sitting quietly, patiently with his hat in his hand, waiting for God’s mercy and grace. He was actively holding forward the Word. He spent time confronting his friends with the scriptures. He believed in seeing God’s power in the situation. Job got rewarded for his stand on the Word. God gave him back everything the devil had stolen and blessed him abundantly. Sometimes we are just days or minutes from our blessing, and the enemy gets us fatigued in standing and living for God.
Romans 5:3-5:
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
As believers, we can have glory or joy in tribulation. Tribulation is defined as mental or external pressure. This pressure can cause us to believe there is no hope, and a rash decision can be made to take your life, suicide. A believer has joy in mental pressure because he or she believes in God’s Words and promises. The joy is not for the tribulation, but we have a God who will deliver us from the enemy every time. Also, the tribulation will help to develop spiritual strength in the believer. The phrase knowing this is the key. We can clearly see the outcome of deliverance because we believe. We also know that tribulation will allow us to be steadfast, which is the word patience. Our steadfastness builds our experience in tribulation and our ability to believe in God and His Word. The best bodybuilder and athletes need strength training. They use weights to build resistance. When our enemy attacks like he did Job, we are prepared to fight because we have been training every day. Steadfastness, endurance, and experience give us hope. This is the fuel for our belief that we will see deliverance. We can have hope that God will bring it to pass. This hope will not make us ashamed because it is fueled by God and His wonderful love for us.
The last Biblical reference we will review on steadfastness is in James the 1st chapter. We will see the concept of steadfastness and joy. Remember, steadfastness is unswerving consistency. It is more than the ability to bear tough times but turn them into victory with God’s power.
James 1:2-4:
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
We must have the proper attitude when we fall into diver (many) temptations (tests). Joy is the essential attitude for victory. There needs to be faith or believing connecting to our patience (steadfastness), yielding two things.
In this day and time, steadfastness is essential to our walk as a believer. In this world, we will have tribulations and trials, but we can rest knowing God will deliver us as we rely on, trust, and believe His promises. We also benefit from the examples of the prophets and believers in the Old Testament and even Jesus Christ. Let’s live, standing steadfast on His promises.