Persevering Faith

Hebrews 10:32-39 (NIV) Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

³⁶ You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

When we persevere and do the will of God, therein is a reward from Him. God has a purpose for everyone. The believers in this context were undergoing some form of persecution because of their faith in Christ, in the end they lost property, received insults and even some were imprisoned.

We need  encouraging words because hard times will come our way and are here. Jesus was not spared this kind of suffering. Today we are going through hard times as a result of COVID-19, a lot of killings of people going on, people have lost jobs and businesses and the situation is dire and worrisome. 

What kind of faith is persevering faith
A faith that overcomes, suffering, imprisonment, persecution, insult, confiscation of personal property, and the like. If these things can happen to us and we remain faithful to God, He will be faithful to us. We should also know that God is expecting such faith from us- a persevering faith. We need this kind of faith because we are now in him to go forward and not shrink back.

A persevering faith is the kind of faith that will help us overcome many obstacles in salvation. The moment you get saved your life is open to spiritual warfare. Therefore we must overcome these obstacles in order to see the reward God has promised us.

Why it is important to have persevering faith
Jesus Christ himself prayed to the effect that Peters’ faith will not fail.

Luke 22:31-32 (NIV) “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus knew that Simon Peters’ faith would be tested even when it appeared that his faith was very strong. The moment you think your faith is strong on your own, be careful to rely on the One who gives us this faith because the enemy of our faith in God is looking out for whom to devour.

God is here to encourage us and inspire hope in us for what we are going through
Luke 18:6-8 (NIV) And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

There must be a correlation between persistence in prayer and persisting in faith

It is important that we link our persevering faith with prayers until God hears and answers us because most times when we are about to give up is when God is about to answer our prayers.

What does the bible say about persevering faith
A persevering faith in the face of impossibility for the human eye.

God operates where hope is lost, our God is a God who turns impossibility into possibility, we must keep trusting Him. Abraham at 100 and his wife Sarah at 90 years experienced the fulfilment of the promise of God when Isaac was born.

God is faithful, what He says He will do-He will do, what He says He will not do He also is faithful not to do.

Romans 4:18 (NIV) Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Make sure you’re in Christ and Christ is in you so that you can benefit from this covenant.

Persevering faith in the face of death

Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV) Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Sometimes when faced with a situation where you will loose your job or promotion or anything we think is dear to us including this life, we may easily become compromised. But if we stand on the side of righteousness our God of righteousness will deliver us from the plans of the evil one.

When we lose everything or are being persecuted to the extent of death we ought to know that some if not all of those experiences are for purifying our faith in God.

Persevering faith in the face of suffering and loss

Job 23:10 (NIV) But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

The devil will not touch your life until God allows it. God who created you in His image and for His purpose knows when your time to go will come. Therefore continue to exercise persevering faith and serve God with boldness. So then, because we know that some of the problems we are going through now and in the future days to come are for purifying our faith, we need to persevere in the face of suffering and loss.

The persistent faith of Apostle Paul

Some people were despising him as an apostle, but he defended his faith and call of the apostleship in his life which God had entrusted them after the believers had been together in prayer and fasting.

2 Corinthians 11:22-26 (NIV) Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.

There are all kinds of trials and persecutions in the world but our relationship with God is very important as we see from heroes of our faith like Abraham, the three Hebrew boys, the Apostles Peter and Paul, were among the many who enjoyed knowing who God is and His ways.

It is important to note that these people also knew how to listen to God. We ought to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit in the situations we are going through. Therefore we as we go through todays situations and tomorrow’s, we ought to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit just as our heroes in the faith listened to God.

These heroes also held on to the word of God because it contains the covenants of God and for all we need in this life. Therefore we ought to hold on the word of God.