The dictionary states that the word endure means “to carry on through, despite hardships; undergo; to bear with tolerance”. The Bible tells while learning to push through by His grace, and endure; God has the ability to work beneficial character traits into our hearts and lives. This sounds positive to our spirit, but our natural man shuns learning endurance, because it’s hard to accept as true…. good can come out of hardship. Nevertheless, it is the truth….. God has the ability to use hardship as a tool to push us forward and change us for our good. Some examples of this concept are: the student who struggles to stay focused on long-term studies, but continues to stick with it; the young mother who feels overwhelmed in caring for her children, but continues on, because of love; teachers who give their all to difficult students with not much appreciation from anyone, but continue on because of a heart that cares if others learn ; the man or woman who wants emotional healing but is tempted to stop the hard work it takes to undo and let go of the past, but chooses to continue forward by faith; the worried person that feels overwhelmed by work, but continues to work and do their best; the daughter who is overwhelmed caring for her elderly parent during a long illness, but selfless love continues to keep her supporting; the woman who struggles for years with health issues, but continues to trust God to help her. In all these examples; During the “continue” part, God uses the pressure as a tool to push us toward a dependent relationship on Christ, supported by His unconditional love, and drawing from His grace, mercy, courage, and strength in our time of need. God does not desire to hurt or punish, but His design is to bring us to a new place, grow our faith, and develop an enduring spirit within us, that can overcome life’s greatest challenges.

“But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a through work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defeats], lacking in nothing”(James 1:4).